Friday, October 12, 2007

Inquiring Minds want to know ...

So what's Julia Duin, investigative journalist and religion writer of the conservative Washington Times doing apparently crashing the Diocese of Virginia's party for "shadow congregations" this past weekend at Shrine Mont? Did she tell them she and her daughter were from Truro? We know that last night at a Diocese of Virginia gathering, Carolyn Chilton told the gathered leadership that two people attended the "retreat" were from Truro and upped the numbers who attended the meeting by two. Inquiring minds want to know. We also learned that the PBS Documentary crew we met in New Orleans were also at the Shrine Mont meeting filming the festivities. Stay tuned.

13 comments:

Kevin said...

Regrettably, we make good drama.

There many who probably don't care about the issues or maybe not 'religious' to no faith at all or very devote but ultra-traditional Catholic or another who feel untouch by the issues who will buy papers or what the documentary because of the drama level. As one Catholic mentioned yesterday, we're a real life soap opera.

Yet we can pray that in all of this, with maybe even some of our warts showing or not illumining our more fallen bits, that the Lord would be glorified and include in these articles and film things that provoke people to question and wrestle with these issue more deeply. Pray the true Gospel message is included in these pieces.

The Lord is incredibly creative and in many messes of my own life I less interested in Him fixing problems as much as redeeming them.

(Okay, in truth, I panic & cry out for Him to fix them, but after lots of quiet time and prayer think about all the situations, it occurs to me God often redeems instead of fixes).

Anonymous said...

Does Julia Duin take any sartorial tips from Nancy Drew? (They showed a Nancy Drew movie on my flight out to California. I didn't buy the earphones.)

I renewed ties with (now-)Bishop John Guernsey yesterday. The real (rather than than the shadow) churches are about to explode with new vibrancy.

Anonymous said...

I saw Julia Duin at the Falls Church's retreat held at Shrine Mont from October 5-7. I have no way of knowing if she attended the subsequent retreat for "continuing Episcopalians."

Unknown said...

Interesting - so The Falls Church went ahead and held their Shrine Mont Retreat despite Bishop Lee's action?

bb

Anonymous said...

+Lee's action did not affect this year's reservation, but TFC will have to find a new retreat location starting in 2008.

Kevin said...

That's good, Christian charity in the midst of the unpleasantness, but CANA really should not be going to +Lee's cathedral.

Anonymous said...

That's good, Christian charity in the midst of the unpleasantness, but CANA really should not be going to +Lee's cathedral.

That may be true, although I suspect only a small percentage of the folks attending last weekend's retreat were aware that +Lee's cathedral is contained within the grounds of Shrine Mont.

Ironically, the decision to kick out TFC, Truro and the other CANA congregations will cost Shrine Mont a substantial sum of money, making it more difficult to keep up said cathedral and the retreat center which surrounds it.

Kevin said...

"I suspect only a small percentage of the folks attending last weekend's retreat were aware that +Lee's cathedral is contained within the grounds of Shrine Mont."

Yes, but integrity can be difficult but important to be maintained, for decisions have consequences and we must accept those that cut, not in a spirit of spite but of trust and acceptance. Just last year I let go of many positive things while letting go of some extremely negative ones, yet the Lord has blessed me abundantly for being willing to die to self interest and let it all go.

The Anglican Province of Uganda gave up a lot, even thanking Dr. Crew for his sarcastic letter because it help them maintain their integrity (stating the inner-workings of ECUSA were a mystery so confused where money originated) but if you saw ++Ormobi's last AnglicanTV interview the Lord has given back push down and still running over.

Julia Duin said...

Mary - Please check with me before publishing any such future comments. I am very easy to reach. I was not at the shadow congregations retreat. Had I been there, I would have been outed in a minute! Plus...my 2-year-old would have made things quite noisy there. I only wish I'd known about that retreat because I would have liked to have snuck in.
And if you could drop the "conservative" from in front of your mentions of TWT, I'd also appreciate it. You don't preface your mentions of the WPost with the word "liberal" do you?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update, Julia - will do.

Anonymous said...

You've got to be kidding that the Washington Times is supposedly not conservative?!?!?! I've never heard anyone claim that it's not! I even know one writer personally (lives across the hall from me) who says that he's at least smart enough to call it what it is! Further interesting that such orthodoxy for Anglicanism has no problems working for Sun Young Moon!

Shrinemont will continue on just fine without the aid of the departing congregants. In fact, despite not having paid their diocesan allotments for several years, Bishop Lee graciously allowed them to continue to use the diocesan retreat center. There will be no economic impact on these opening dates. Shrinemont is full every year, with an extended waiting list (it functions for far more than just the Diocese of Virginia).

Lastly, I must express surprise at the anger/condescension the blogger puts on those of these parishes that have decided to continue on without jumping off to be a CANAnite. You can't feel any sympathy/sorrow for some of your former members? Heck, I even feel that towards some of you, even though no one kicked you to the curb. Christian charity in action I suppose.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mary,

Just so that you know -- In shooting our film about the crisis in the Episcopal Church, we covered the Common Cause Council of Bishops in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, as well as the retreat at Shrine Mont, and the House of Bishops in New Orleans. We are just getting started. In keeping with our overall policy for documentary films of this type, our aim is to be fair and to see and hear all sides of the question. We will be filming around Virginia over the next few months with representatives and congregations with disparate views. I'm sure our paths will cross again.

Looking forward to it,

Tom Hurwitz for Lumiere Productions

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting, Tom. I must say that one of the happier highlights in New Orleans was meeting you and your crew. I do look forward to our paths crossing again. Thanks for not giving up on me.

-Mary