Palms and Problems Go Up In Smoke, Stone Soup and Ashes Wednesday

Posted on March 7, 2011 by ginny

Father Manny Borg burned last year’s Easter palms along with a collection of written problems and grievances in a pre-Lent tradition we started at St Nick’s today.

They burned really well… it was very meaningful. Unfortunately I didn’t press “record” in time, but you can see we’ve got a LOT of ashes for ~~next~~ THIS Wedenesday.

There is no connection between this and Father Manny’s 3-alarm chili from the Chili Supper Saturday night, though.

I couldn’t resist – I tagged this “Episcopal” and “Comedy” at YouTube!

Meanwhile, Stone Soup will be served on Wednesday at 530pm at the church, using the ingredients gathered piecemeal from the congregation on Sunday. The Ash Wednesday liturgy, with Imposition of Ashes, starts at 7pm.

Ashes To Go: Take Lent To The People

Posted on March 6, 2011 by ginny

Episcopal Bishop of Chicago Jeffrey D. Lee’s message to the people for Lent 2011

Bishop Jeffrey Lee is inviting the congregations of the diocese to take the liturgy to the streets this Ash Wednesday using the model of invitational encounters employed last year by several of our congregations including Calvary Church, Lombard. The Rev. Emily Mellott of Calvary Church has created a series of Ashes to Go liturgical resources for use by others in the dioceses.

Says Bishop Lee in his letter to congregations:

There is a vast hunger in our world for the presence of the Lord Jesus and for a declaration of the truth that we are finite and human creatures, dependent on a loving and merciful God. The rites of Ash Wednesday can be a powerful tool to offer just this message to folks who would never walk through the doors of our churches to experience it. I hope many of us will be bold in offering this ministry to people outside the walls of our churches. Christ is there.

via The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

As an aside, the diocesan website has seen some great changes – lots of videos to watch and a much clearer URL that spells out “www.episcopalchicago.org” instead of shortening it as it did formerly.

Commentary on an old @ChicagoTribune Seeker post from 2008

Posted on March 6, 2011 by ginny

Your church webmistress and blogmistress found this old article at the Chicago Tribune’s Seeker blog before she found a later one where our Bishop Jeffrey Lee was a guest blogger. It’s an interesting look back at “where we were,” and how glad we are to have put that era of conflict behind us.

Having met Presiding Bishop Schori when she visited St Nicholas Episcopal Church in Elk Grove Village a few years ago, it’s interesting to look back at the negative attitudes that some held against her and the whole “gay Bishop” issue just a few years ago. Enough time has gone by that most of the dust has settled, and those on either side of the debate have had some time to breathe, reflect, and carry on doing God’s work as we see fit.

Lambeth 2008 turned out to be an interesting and frustrating experience watching it from afar; it brought the innovative “Indaba” discussions to the fore, and it also featured the shameful treatment of Bishop Gene Robinson, who was *not* invited although he was (and is until he retires soon) the elected bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Bp. Katharine was also treated rather shabbily by the traditionalist establishment at Lambeth, a situation she weathered with grace and good humor.

Meanwhile, progressive contacts in the English church continue to ask their American cousins in faith to continue to lead the way to a more inclusive church and not to abandon gay parishioners and clergy for “the bottom line.” The situation in Uganda, with murders and attacks on gay Anglicans, requires us to be a witness for peace, reconciliation, and Christian charity.

Strange as previous commenters may find it, since Lambeth the consensus in the American church is that Bp. Katharine is the right person for the job, as she has skillfully guided us through stormy waters. The discord and unhappiness from the traditionalists has faded as they have either left the “Godless liberals” behind for churches arranged more to their liking, or as they have had a change of heart and embraced change.

Meanwhile, Episcopal churches like St Nick’s continue to welcome new members who are looking for a modern church, with a strong foundation in God’s word, that will *accept them unconditionally.* Those who left are missed, and we hope that they will eventually find their way home, but if they cannot according to their own consciences, we wish them God’s peace.

Yes, some consolidation and shrinkage has happened, but nobody misses the old conficts and discord. And now many churches (like mine) find themselves energized and renewed, able to welcome new people who couldn’t care less about those old issues; they’re attracted by good preaching, good liturgy, and good programs that speak to their hearts and feed their souls.

I’d like to see some newer articles covering Chicago Episcopalian news that *don’t* revolve around the gay clergy/woman clergy issue, such as the work our new Bishop Jeffrey Lee is doing, and what is really going on out here in the trenches. As it’s 3 years on, yet another story with a “those Episcopalians and their gay clergy” angle would not be very interesting.

or on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Nicholas-Episcopal-Church/10150127803175294