Holy Week Begins

Ring them bells, ye heathen
From the city that dreams,
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries
Cross the valleys and streams,
For they're deep and they're wide
And the world's on its side
And time is running backwards
And so is the bride.

Ring them bells St. Peter
Where the four winds blow,
Ring them bells with an iron hand
So the people will know.
Oh it's rush hour now
On the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down
Upon the sacred cow.

Ring them bells Sweet Martha,
For the poor man's son,
Ring them bells so the world will know
That God is one.
Oh the shepherd is asleep
Where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled
With lost sheep.

Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf,
Ring them bells for all of us who are left,
Ring them bells for the chosen few
Who will judge the many when the game is through.
Ring them bells, for the time that flies,
For the child that cries
When innocence dies.

Ring them bells St. Catherine
From the top of the room,
Ring them from the fortress
For the lilies that bloom.
Oh the lines are long
And the fighting is strong
And they're breaking down the distance
Between right and wrong.

B. Dylan

Breaking: BabyBlue Joins Bob Dylan's Band

Fairfax, VA (April 1, 2007)---After months of speculation, it was revealed today that BabyBlue had joined Bob Dylan's band. Sources close to the legendary musician's management confirmed that "BabyBlue" had indeed joined Bob Dylan's backup band as a tambourine player.

"Bob's been needing a good tambourine player for quite a while," said Marcus Maxwell, an associate with Jack Frost Productions located at the Abernathy Building. "When we saw her audition it was clear she was the one. She sure can hit that tambourine."

Rumors persist that BabyBlue's tambourine performances will be featured on Dylan's next album. "It is indeed possible, she sure can hit that tambourine," Maxwell said.

Friends confirm that she has indeed left for Europe to travel with Bob Dylan's band. "She said to us 'hey, when you've been sued by The Episcopal Church what else can you do but join a rock and roll band?'" one friend said after Palm Sunday services this morning in Fairfax. Another friend agreed. "She said it was her life-long dream to be a tambourine player and go on the road."

Efforts to reach BabyBlue were unsuccessful, as the tour is now in Europe. But a source close to BabyBlue confirmed that she started up the tambourine after the recent House of Bishops meeting. "Yeah, she sure picked it up fast," Maxwell confirmed. "She said that each time another Episcopal Bishop wrote another reflection on the House of Bishops meeting in Texas, she'd hit that thing. She got quite good after a while, I guess, so Bob hired her."

Spring!

Spring finally arrives. Here at the farm this weekend where there is the annual blomming of the most glorious weeping cherry. Just had to share with you all. I don't think I've ever seen one this large anywhere else - it's got to be over fifty feet - it's taller than the house. It's an amazing tree - my favorite. Click on the photos to see them larger than life. Enjoy!

The Full Armor of God?

BB NOTE: When I first saw the front cover art for the UK edition of Harry Potter and the Darkly Hallows, this scripture came to mind:

Ephesians 6:13-18 (NIV)

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Do you see all the armor in this cover art? Coincidence?

Let your yes be no and your no be no?

BB NOTE:The Presiding Bishop came out of the House of Bishops whistling a new tune - the "fast" is over, no more talk about structural "containers" and she can cancel the Nixon Trip to China. But just to recall only last month:

Remember this?



It's the recording of the PB's talk with the 815 staff right after she got back from Tanzania in February. She still had her Tanzania tan. Interesting that the ENS article no longer contains text when you go here. How weird is that? Could it because ENS wrote this on Feb. 23 (thanks StandFirm for saving it!):

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on February 23 told the community of people who work at the Episcopal Church Center in New York that the new structures asked for by the primates in Dar es Salaam, and the clarifications they want about the Episcopal Church’s stance on blessing same-gender relationships and partnered gay and lesbian priests becoming bishops, can be a “container” in which the Anglican Communion can continue to discuss issues that many Anglicans would rather avoid..

So her she's talking about structural containers - i.e.,the Pastoral Council (doesn't use the word "scheme" here because she wants 815 to buy it, calls it a "container" instead). We're going to listen to the original recording again tonight (join us - it's posted above). It will be interesting to compare what she said then to what she's saying now. But as I recall, she was supporting the new Anglican structure like the Pastoral Council as being akin to what she herself had proposed. She did support the Communique and that was clear when she came home. It was clear that no one left until they were all in agreement. Now she's telling a diferent story. Now she's pulling a Griswold. And yes, the ENS story of her original talk to the 815 staff is still blank. Check it out for yourself.

Here's the Church of England Newspaper article from today, March 30, 2007, that focuses on the About Face of Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Row over Schori's Primates Satement

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has qualified her support for the Primates’ Dar es Salaam communiqué, telling reporters her endorsement did not connote agreement,but signified her intention to act as the Primates’ messenger to the US House of Bishops.

Row over Schori's Primates Satement -
The Church of England Newspaper Electronic Edition
28.03.07
www.churchnewspaper.com/cen_online

US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has qualified her support for the Primates’ Dar es Salaam communiqué, telling reporters her endorsement did not connote agreement,but signified her intention to act as the Primates’ messenger to the US House of Bishops.

In a March 21 conference call with reporters, Bishop Jefferts Schori said she backed the US House of Bishops’ decision to reject the pastoral council. Asked whether this support served to revoke her signature on the Primates’ communiqué,she responded that she had not signed the Feb 19 Dares Salaam statement.

Her assent had been given orally, she said. Dr. Williams had gone around the room asking each primate if they could live with this agreement. The Presiding Bishop said she told the primates: “I would bring this back to the House of Bishops’ and “explain it” to them, and “seek the will of the House.” Asked to clarify her comments, she said the “best way to gain a consensus” among the Primates in Tanzania had been to support the communiqué, however,“ she was not able to speak for the whole House of Bishops.”

Recollections of events from the final session of the primates meeting differ. Speaking with The Church of England Newspaper shortly after the meeting,one participant stated Bishop Jefferts Schori said “I accept,” in response to Dr Williams’ query whether she could live with the agreement.

The communiqué represented the “feeling of the meeting as a whole” Dr Williams’ told a Feb 19 press conference in Dar esSalaam, while Archbishop Andrew Hutchison told the Anglican Journal of Canada he had endorsed the communiqué after Bishop Jefferts Schori said she wouldsign it. “I told her, ‘It’s all about you. If you decide not to sign, I won’t sign. I’ll be there with you’.”

Not signing the Primates communiqué, Bishop Jefferts Schori told Archbishop Hutchison, would send the message “that at great expense and effort, we have accomplished nothing and we have nothing to say.”

The Presiding Bishop’s comments come at the moment of the American church’s sharpest divide,with some warning of impending schism, while others arguing all is well. Bishop Jefferts Schori explained the rejection was “not a final decision,” but are commendation by the Bishops to the church’s Executive Council. The Episcopal Church’s formalresponse to the communiqué would not come until September, after a series of town-hall style meetings and consultations acrossThe Episcopal Church,she said.

The Primates needed to “hear concerns around our polity”, she said, noting“ other parts of ocurred. Colorado Bishop Robert O’Neill told his diocese the bishops did not “close any doors or cut off the serious and substantive discussion that is necessary to respond fully and appropriately to the Primates’concerns.”

What the bishops’ rejection had accomplished was “to make a statement which self-differentiated ourselves as The Episcopal Church while protecting the polity of our church. This means no outside interference which would violate our Canons or Constitution,” Rochester, NY Bishop JackMcKelvey said.

Conservative leaders were less sanguine.“Appeals to ‘our polity’ would be more convincing if we actually took our polity seriously,” the Bishop of Dallas James Stanton observed. The consequences of the bishops’ rejection were grim, others argued. “It now appears that a divorce maybe unavoidable,” Bishop Jeffrey Steenson of the Rio Grande told his diocese. Now “there is clearly no place left for conservative Christians within the Episcopal Church’s official structures,” Dr Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Communion Institute stated, while Dr Paul Zahl, the Dean of Trinity School for Ministry, the Episcopal Church’s flagship evangelical seminary, lamented: “It is time for all of us to give up,” and “give up unconditionally.”

In a brief statement released through the Anglican Consultative Council, Dr Williams noted the results had been “discouraging,” showing the “need for further discussion and clarification.” A spokesman for Lambeth Palace told The Church of England Newspaper Dr Williams would release a detailed statement in the coming days.

At the close of the Primates’ meeting however, DrWilliams stated, “these are the terms that have been put” to the US House of Bishops. “I think it would be rather difficult if there were a response in other terms.” If the US church were unable to give the “reassurances” requested by the primates, “then in fact the damage is not repaired, and that has to affect some of the consideration we would want to give about the organs of the Communion,” Dr Williams said on Feb 19.

The leaders of the GlobalSouth coalition of primates were caught off guard by the US decision. Many were traveling or conducting visitations when the news broke, and have not had an opportunity to gather as a group to offer a collective response.

However, South American Archbishop Gregory Venables stated: “It is not possible to maintain a relationship when one party unilaterally and coldly departs from previously agreed foundations,” adding “now we must move to separation as quickly and as gracefully as possible.”

Archbishop Carlos Touche Porter of Mexico argued rejection of the pastoral council by the US was inevitable. There was “no other response” to the primates “that could have come out of the House,” he said.

From the Church of England Newspaper via Latimer.

The Week That Was ...

The Episcopal Church Crisis continues to implode; the cover art of all the editions of the upcoming seventh book in the Harry Potter series is released to the public; Bob Dylan goes back on tour and is reunited with his guitar; Bono is made an honorary knight by Queen Elizabeth II; the daytime temps hit 80 degrees; good news from a distant land; and I add one more candle to the birthday cake - all in one week. Heading to the Farm this weekend - heard the giant cherry tree is in bloom and photos will be coming soon. And that was the week that was.

Dylanologists Take Note: He's Back on the Guitar - finally!

In the world of YouTube, Dylan fans are recording pieces of his concerts and putting them up on YouTube, almost in real time. This is just small bit from his concert in Stockholm where he surprises everyone and returns to the guitar after years of stepping back behind the electric organ. It's almost like he's been hiding in the shadows and is now ready to return to center stage. When I saw him for the very first time he was shoved over in the corner, back stage right and never looked at the audience, just at the band and one got the feeling the audience was evesdropping on a band rehearsal. Oops. The next time he had switched sides and moved his electric piano a little closer, but now on back stage left. That time he did steal glances into the audience and had started to dance more from behind the keyboards. He's come out to a mic at center stage to do the harmonica-thing, but never really looked out. Still had the Oscar taped to his amp, though.

Late last year was the most animated and fun I'd ever seen him - and I'm still rather new at this. At George Mason he appeared to be really having fun and enjoying himself and did look out into the crowd and respond to what he was seeing. It was an entirely different experience. Got to see the Oscar again.

But here he is in this very short clip taken just this past Tuesday night in Stockholm, back to his old place at the real center stage and back on the guitar. Yeah.



NOTE: If you click on the headline above, you can see part of "All Along the Watchtower" from last night with Dylan on the electric organ. Cool arrangement, slightly sea sick though - but hey, it was last night in Sweden!

FYI - the photo above was taken Tuesday night.

Bishop Hertzog "in full communion" with Roman Catholic Church

BB NOTE: I know Dan Herzog as a fellow Alpha Regional Advisor with Alpha North America. It wasn't until later that I found out he was the Episcopal Bishop of Albany (I hosted a gathering of ARAs at Truro a few years ago and Dan came and I realized then that he was a bishop because he was wearing the shirt!). He retired earlier this year and this breaking news is that he has left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church. It's stunning news and comes just weeks after the announcement that his Suffragan Bishop, David Benna, left the Episcopal Church to be a bishop in the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Something is happening here, do you know what it is?

From The Living Church:

Bishop Herzog Joins the Roman Catholic Church
3/29/2007

The Rt. Rev. William H. Love, Bishop of Albany, has appealed for unity following news that his predecessor has entered into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Rt. Rev. Daniel Herzog retired as Bishop of Albany Jan. 31. Bishop Love said he learned of Bishop Herzog’s decision in a letter dated March 19 which he received upon his return from the spring retreat of the House of Bishops.

“The recent retirement and subsequent departure of both Bishop Dan [Herzog] and Bishop Dave [Bena] from The Episcopal Church can’t help but have a major impact on each of us and our diocese,” Bishop Love stated in a letter. “One of my greatest concerns as your new bishop is that others in the diocese are also struggling with the current issues that threaten to divide the Church. Please know that I am here for you as we work through these issues.

“As your bishop and brother in Christ, I appreciate and give thanks to God for you and every member of our diocesan family. I need you as we move forward.”

In his letter to Bishop Love, Bishop Herzog stated that his decision was based on more than three years of focused prayer and study.

“My sense of duty to the diocese, its clergy and people required that I not walk away from my office and leave vulnerable this diocese which I love,” he wrote. “I believed that it was my responsibility to provide for a transition to the future. Your subsequent election and consecration discharged that duty and has given me the liberty to follow my conscience, and now resign my orders and membership in the House of Bishops.

“It is certainly no reflection on you or your ministry which Carol and I both admire and respect and for which we pray daily. Needless to say, we have only fondness and appreciation for you and the diocese in whose ministry Carol and I have invested the past 35 years of our lives.”

Bishop Herzog’s departure comes less than a month after it was revealed that before his retirement, Bishop Herzog had agreed to transfer the canonical ministry license of Bishop Suffragan David Bena to the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Bishop Love said both former bishops remain “good friends” and will continue to be welcome at all diocesan functions.

Click Here: Senator Smith says it best.

Cartoon Night at the BabyBlueCafe

BB NOTE: It's never a good time to lose your head, even if you are pumpkin.

A Safe Place?

Who used to use the Safe Place Defense to justify their actions in American History? You may be surprised to find out.

Just because we are "safe" does not mean we are free.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galations 5:1) He doesn't mention anything about being safe. It's hard to be safe when one is carrying around a cross. Or out on a battlefield. Or when sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ inside hostile territory where Anglican Christians are chopped up and sent home to their families. Let's get real.

HP Book VI (Deathly Hallows) Cover Art Released!

US Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

UK Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Adult Edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Front and Back Cover of US Edition.

Front and Back Cover of UK Edition.

We think the internet is about to explode. It's hard to get these photos to come out - probably because a kabillion people all over the planet are trying to download them at the same time. WOW! Christmas in March!

There is more but we just can't get onto the Leaky Cauldron server right now. But that art from the back cover too. For those of us who are looking for clues, this is a major contribution to the sluething now under way until July. We love our Bishops - but some things are just way more fun. Happy Sluething!

bb

Ephraim Radner: What Way Ahead – Part Two

BB NOTE: Should have known there would be a reason why we had to don our tinfoil hats again last week after our friend and cafe patron from from across the Potomac started up the "IRD Is Out To Take Over the World As We Know It" conspiracy theories and tossing Fr. Radner into the epicenter would be for a reason. Now Fr. Radner is no longer the progressives favorite orthodox darling (John Howe, please take note) now that he's vocalizing the truth of the reality on the ground (that just doesn't go over well with the tea and crumpets, don't you know). Now he's viewed as "emotional" and one must wear their tinfoil hats because of the company he keeps (so much for full inclusion!) - ah, but the times they are still ironically a-changing:

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'



Here we have a must-read from Ephraim Radner of the Anglican Communion Institute. Two highlights are below, but read the whole thing here:

"We must now choose our way with respect to the Communion, and choose it in a manner that can be evaluated rather clearly according to the Communion’s own calling. This is so because the Communion has moved through very important, articulated and clear phases of reflection and action, especially most recently at Dar es Salaam. For that we are profoundly grateful ..."

..."Some have wondered if I am counseling us to “leave” the Episcopal Church. There are certainly ways to do this that are unambiguous, and I am not in a position to judge those who take such an unambiguous path. However, for those like myself who are committed to the Communion path outlined above, “leaving” is not as clear as it may seem. We have not moved; last week, our bishops as a House have moved.

"In such a situation, the readjusting of relationships will, as I have said, engage an inevitable conflict. This could well “feel” like leaving to some, I have no doubt. It will certainly be filled with anguish, as I feel every day. But steadfastness in this course is not flight or abandonment of anyone. We can respect the choices of our House of Bishops as choices made openly and honestly.

"But our own choices can likewise be made with integrity, precisely as they remain consistent with the vows we have all taken to “the apostles’ teaching and fellowship” and the “heritage” of the Great Church God would have rise up again the sight of all the world."

The battle for Helm's Deep is over.

More reasons to pray ...

Closer to Home: Urgent Prayer Request

For those of us who are regular patrons here at the Cafe, we all know Kevin and his great and consistent posts. Could you just stop right now and pray for him and his family? The Lord knows what's before Him and if you could just pray for Kevin and his family right now, right where you are, that would be so good. Feel free to post prayers on his behalf or scriptures or anything that comes to mind. The Lord knows the need and I just ask Him to pour out His love and care abundantly. Once I find out if it's okay to post the specific prayer request here, I will, or Kevin may drop by. But in the meantime, please pray for our brother Kevin.

"Lo, I will be with you always, even to the ends of the world."
Matthew 28:20

Long Distance Dedication: For An Old Friend

A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

King Lear, Act IV, Sc. VI

Sigh

BB NOTE: Choose any song above and then right click on the headline above or right click here and then read Bishop Howard of the Diocese of Florida's letter. You can see what happened here at the Cafe when we were done reading.

Key Phrases to Watch

The good thing about Bishop Lee's fascinating letter was that it offered some clues of key phrases to watch:

pastoral scheme
self-governing
autonomous
not divided
undivided
foreign prelates.
foreign primates
foreign anything

See how many ways you can use the words in a sentence. Truth and Accuracy are optional.

For example: the "Pastoral Scheme" usage is particularly noteworthy. The word "scheme" in British English means "visionary planning" or "concrete ideas for the future," or simply "a plan." In American English "scheme" means "a plot of betrayal." A 'scheme" is nasty. Nice people don't have "schemes." Nice people have "plans." The American bishops have done nothing to explain or define to American Episcopalians in the pews the meaning of that word. We see the word "scheme" being employed over and over by the Episcopal leadership and I hope the Archbishop of Canterbury has been finally briefed that this word has a very different meaning in America and the American Episcopalian leadership is doing nothing to help him out. I hope he's paying attention to how many American Episcopal leaders and bishops are using that word because they are sending him a very clear message every time the word "scheme" instead of "plan" is used. Take note.

Another fascinating phrase that has suddenly popped up in the lexicon is: "foreign prelates." For those of us who have spent any considerable time in the South - we know what the connotations of that phrase is and let's just say those connotations aren't very nice. Flannery O'Connor, call your office. To use a phrase like "foreign prelates" also hints to the same sort of whispers that were around John F. Kennedy when he ran for president. Southern Protestants in particular were quite concerned that he would be ruled by a certain Foreign Prelate and it seems that tactic is back at work today.

bb

Voice of America: US Episcopalians Move Away from Tanzania Communique

US Episcopalians Move Away from Tanzania Communique
By Howard Lesser
Washington, DC
26 March 2007
Voice of America

Listen to Bishop Martyn Minns here.

American Episcopalian bishops are resisting terms to head off a greater split with the Anglican mother church that were hammered out at a conference in Tanzania last month. Rejection by the end of September and an American reaffirmation of principles welcoming homosexual clergy and same sex marriages boost chances that the Anglican Communion will try to expel some two-point-three million American Episcopalians from the 77 million member Anglican arm of the Church of England.

Bishop Martyn Minns is the Missionary Leader of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), an initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. He says that to Anglican communities in African countries, the American clash is not so much cultural, but centers more around issues of faith and a struggle over Church authority.

“I think the whole thing right now is a very understandable development because the African church is coming of age and that’s hard for folks who’ve had the power for much of the life of the Communion and now have to share it. I think this is a very understandable struggle to figure out a new set of relationships with the African churches now that are growing, and in fact are taking the lead in terms of spreading the gospel,” he said.

Bishop Minns points to the internal struggle still being waged among US Anglicans over the endorsement of homosexual practices and says that despite the prevailing view advocated by Episcopalian bishops, American divisions are still running deep.

“There are a lot of folks in this country who really don’t believe that we should change the basic understanding of the Scriptures, and there’s not unanimity at all. I think I would say that what we actually believe is that what we’ve been given in the Scriptures is timeless, and so therefore it’s not a matter of going back. But it has taken the truth that has been tested and proven for thousands of years and is applying it to our lives today. But all the Communion seems to see in the American development is actually rejecting some of that in a way that they can’t accept,” he said.

Although he says it is too soon to predict whether American Anglicans will fully reject February’s Tanzania Communique, Bishop Minns readily points out the determination of the US church to stick by its stands in the face of international Anglican opinion.

“My instinct is that those presently in control of the Episcopal Church are really pretty much determined to go their own way. Now whether or not they will take the whole church with them or how much they will separate is yet to be determined,” he surmises.

Right now, US church authorities continue to see themselves as uniting against foreign interference in the policies of their church. However, Bishop Minns remains hopeful that by the September deadline for compliance with international Anglican prescription, there will be some movement on the actual theological and sexual divisions that are contributing to the rift.

“I’m a Christian, so I live with hope,” he says. “Right now, they seem pretty intransigent, so I don’t know. That’s the big question. We’ll have to wait and see.”