First Anniversary

Barbara and I agreed that our first year of marriage
Was the happiest of our entire lives.
We attribute that to being free of
Parental and career responsibilities, and having
Time to enjoy life's small and large pleasures.

Last Sunday, February seventh, we participated in a
Charming ceremony at St. David's Episcopal Church.
Once a month, usually on the first Sunday of the month,
Married couples celebrating anniversaries that month
Come forth to the altar rail to receive a blessing.

The entire congregation reads a prayer from the bulletin.
Monsignor David, who is filling in this month,
Walked down the row, asking each couple to state
How long they had been married.

Barbara and I were first in line.
Ever the showman, David stuck a microphone in my face.
"How many years, Patrick?" "One," I said
Whereupon the congregation burst into applause.
We walked hand in hand to our pew in back.
And fielded congratulations from all after the service.

The anniversary date is February fourteenth.
We will be attending a Pops concert by the symphony,
Courtesy of the executive director,
Who responded to a note from me, with donation, that
Barbara and I met at a concert in May 2008, by virtue
Of being seated next to one another with single tickets.

After the concert, we will repair to
Alberto's ristorante in Hyannis,
Barbara's favorite eatery,
Using the gift card I gave her as a Christmas present.

Closing Prayer for Discussion Group

Almighty God, today we studied your Word.
Today, and tomorrow, and all the days thereafter,
We must practice what it means to be Christian
In a troubled and difficult world.

We must love God with all our heart,
We must love our neighbors as ourselves,
Jesus tell us to do so in our daily lives,
By following the directions He has given us.

To be an example, to be a witness
To the revealed truth that makes us free.
To tell the good news to all who will listen,
That his grace makes us pure in heart.

So that we can bear any burden, endure any suffering,
Obtain the strength to carry on in life's tests,
And celebrate the joys we have on earth,
Until we achieve eternal joy in his kingdom.

Budget Crisis at St. David's

The intent of these entries is not to derogate the good people
And their efforts at St. David's Episcopal Church.
As previously reported, the survival of the parish
Is severely handicapped by the environment in which it functions.

Now, again, a budget crisis looms,
Despite a recent every member canvass,
The pledged amount for 2010 falls critically
Short of a proposed budget.

The budget itself is patently inadequate.
The new rector agreed to a truncated contract.
Compensation of the paid staff is unconscionable;
Outreach and improvements depend on dedicated funds.

Week by week the Sunday attendance falls.
Old folks go to their heavenly reward
And are not replaced by contributing newcomers.
Fewer hands are able to work in vital functions.

Again, the old feasible solutions are liquidation
Of perhaps merger with a more affluent parish.
It won't happen, the mindset of those in charge
Is simply to ride to gradual extinction.

Emerging Church at St. David's

St. David's Church has called a new rector, who is now at a very small church in Buffalo.
Among accomplishment listed in his resume, he has been involved with the Emerging Church Movement,
Described as "A contemporary worship experience for teenagers through young adults."

What, then, is the emerging church?

Wikipedia gives a concise summary, ahead of a fourteen page article:

"The emerging church (sometimes referred to as the emergent movement) is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants can be described as evangelical, post-evangelical, liberal, post-liberal, charismatic, neocharismatic and post-charismatic. Participants seek to live their faith in what they believe to be a "postmodern" society. Proponents of this movement call it a "conversation" to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature, its vast range of standpoints and its commitment to dialogue. What those involved in the conversation mostly agree on is their disillusionment with the organized and institutional church and their support for the deconstruction of modern Christian worship, modern evangelism, and the nature of modern Christian community."

Thus we are now thrown deep into the concepts of post-modernism and deconstruction.
Post-modernism posits that proclaimed truths are always suspect and should be rejected.
The observer must arrive at truth through introspection and relevance to his/her culture.
Therefore two plus two may equal five from a subjective viewpoint,
Because the integers may have a variable rather that an absolute value.
Similarly, a phrase or a sentence should not be accepted literally.
Instead the text must be deconstructed to search for hidden meanings,
That reveal the true intent of the author or speaker.

The emerging church seems to engage both in approaching Christianity.
Only in dialogue with one another, and in behavior toward outsiders,
Can we understand what Jesus is telling us to believe and to do.
Faith thereupon arrives from a testing of concepts in action.
As we read in James and 1 John.

The aim seems to be to avoid normative teaching in introducing people to Christianity.
The emerging church calls that propositional, and hence abhorrent.
Instead the openness of a group in discussion better suits the secular and unchurched.
And eventually leads them to accept Christian precepts on their own terms.
Of course, sooner or later the convert has to arrive at a subscription to the creeds
In order to be a true member of the Christian religion.

Adult Education at St. David's

Surprisingly, a ministry has been thrust upon me, i.e.
Continuing leadership of the Friday discussion group.
It had been led by the interim rector
Who apparently has decided to leave it to me.

He and his wife, the co-interim, will end their stay
In February, when the newly appointed rector arrives.
When the interim visited our group a few weeks ago,
He found me nudging the discussion along,
And seemed pleased with the way things went.

Since then, a lot of compliments have come my way
For guiding the group into exploration of The Reason for God.
It is an excellent work of Christian apologetics,
Compared favorable to Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.

That book was given to me by my church friend, Tibby.
As previously reported in this space, our group has taken to
Vigorous examination of Tim Keller's arguments
For the existence of God and his works on earth.

The participants do not realize that this is the easiest seminar
That I have conducted in a long teaching career.
All I have to do is have them read a section,
Then throw out a leading question.
The discussion takes off from there.

Opening Prayer for Discussion Groups

Dear Lord, as we gather together
To better understand Your Word,
Help us to keep our minds open
During our discussions.

Remove the barriers of ingrained assumption.
Make us listen to all who contribute insight,
And thereby appreciate how Your love
Permeates diverse points of view.

We meet to expand our knowledge of You,
To find pathways by which we may exercise faith in action,
And spread your Good News to those
Outside our circle of faith in this room.

We are scholars, we are sinners, we are neighbors.
Shine your light upon us
As we seek to become fuller Christian
In thought, word, and deed. Amen

Holy Mother Church

Once, at The Church of The Holy Spirit in Orleans, Massachusetts,
David preached a sermon in which he referred to us as "Holy Mother Church."
On the way out, I told David that I left HMC a long time ago;
He said Holy Mother Church never left you!

Now, in October 2009, the mountain has come to Mohammed,
That is, HMC is reaching out to co-opt and ingather traditional Anglicans
By offering to receive Anglican parishes as "discrete bodies"
Into the arms of the Holy Roman Empire, i.e., the Roman Catholic Church.

Little do the Vatican officials who hatched this plot
Realize that they have opened the door to cataclysmic change in their Church.
Heretofore, they have received only individual Anglicans, who "swim the Tiber."
Including married Anglican clerics who are retreaded as Catholic priests.

When they get a whole bunch, nothing but trouble will result.
Their own clergy will begin to demand the right to be married, too.
Their bishops will have to deal with fractious vestries,
Who are used to functioning independent of church hierarchy.

Anglican parishes call their own clergy, subject to diocesan approval,
And do not hold still for having someone assigned by outside authority.
Anglicans do not accept theological precepts they do not agree with,
Certainly not from a foreign-born bishop in a palace in Rome.

No doubt the Vatican is looking for substantial revenue from affluent Anglicans.
They will find all such funds specifically reserved for pet causes of donors.
Anglicans are a stiff-necked people, who will not behave like Catholic sheep,
Who bend the knee, bow the head, and reach into their pockets.

Revolt will spread.
Free thought will infest the Catholic faithful.
The specter of women's ordination will arise
To haunt the planners at the Vatican.