March 2007
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There Will Be No Outcasts

The Episcopal Church has been in the news a lot in recent days. I can’t remember another time when in the space of a week The New York Times carried two front-page stories about our denomination, in addition to a news analysis on the front page of the Sunday Week in Review section.

The headlines have been about the February gathering in Tanzania of the primates, or national leaders, of the churches in the Anglican Communion, the loose confederation of churches throughout the world that trace their roots to the Church of England.

The Episcopal Church’s relationship with the Anglican Communion was one of the prime topics of discussion at the primates’ meeting. That relationship has been strained in recent years by two things: our growing acceptance of gays and lesbians into full inclusion in the church, including ordination and blessing of same-sex relationships; and African bishops who have violated church protocol by agreeing to oversee congregations in this country.

Indeed, several primates, primarily from Africa and Asia , threatened not to attend the meeting if our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, was there. Although they eventually did attend the meetings, a group of seven refused to attend worship services with her.

At the end of their meeting, the primates issued an ultimatum to the Episcopal Church: they gave our House of Bishops until September 30 to “make an unequivocal common covenant” to refuse to authorize the ordinations of gay or lesbian bishops and to prohibit the blessings of same-sex relationships.

“If the reassurances cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at the best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion,” the primates’ communiqué said.

Putting aside the issue of homosexuality for a moment, there are still severe problems with this ultimatum. The primates have acted without consideration of either the polity of the Episcopal Church or the working relationships in the Anglican Communion.

The governance of the Episcopal Church is similar to our national governmental structure. Our Congress has two bodies, the House and the Senate. With a few exceptions, one house cannot make decisions unilaterally and can never tell the other what to do.

Similarly, at the national level our church is governed by two bodies – the House of Bishops, and the House of Deputies (which is composed of lay and clergy delegates from each diocese). Both houses meet every three years in our General Convention. And one cannot make unilateral decisions about the laws of the Church.

Bonnie Anderson, the president of the House of Deputies, explained it well. “The polity of the Episcopal Church is one of shared decision making among the laity, priests and deacons and bishops,” her statement said.

“The House of Bishops does not make binding, final decisions about the governance of the Church. Decisions like those requested by the primates must be carefully considered and ultimately decided by the whole Church, all orders of ministry, together.”

Another problem with the communiqué is that the primates are overreaching their own authority. The Anglican Communion is not analogous to the Roman Catholic Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the symbolic head of the communion, does not have the authority of the Pope.

Within the Anglican Communion, each province or national church operates independently with its own polity. The primate of one area has no jurisdiction or authority in any other province. The Archbishop of Canterbury has no authority to tell any province how to conduct its business.

Bonnie Anderson notes that the primates’ ultimatum “raises profound and serious issues regarding their authority to require any member Church to take the types of specific actions the communiqué contemplates and whether they have authority to enforce consequences or penalties against any member Church that does not act in a way they desire.

“The type of authority for the primates implicit in the communiqué would change not only the Episcopal Church but the essence of the Anglican Communion.”

And then, of course, there is the issue of homosexuality. The Episcopal Church has literally spent decades listening, talking, studying and praying over the role of gay and lesbian Christians in the Church. No decisions have been made hastily or unilaterally.

I believe the Episcopal Church is playing a prophetic role in its movement to full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the Church. For many Episcopalians this is an issue of both love and justice.

There are those who say the Episcopal Church is disregarding the authority of scripture. I respond that we are being led by the Holy Spirit into a fuller understanding of the Gospel.

Again, Bonnie Anderson says it well. “Our baptismal promise to seek and serve Christ in all people must be very carefully considered when we are being asked as Episcopalians to exclude some of our members from answering the Holy Spirit’s call to use their God-given gifts to lead faithful lives of ministry.

“Our promise to strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of all people binds us together. The Episcopal Church has declared repeatedly that our understanding of the Baptismal Covenant requires that we treat all persons equally.”

Several years ago I was privileged to hear then-Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning speak. More than a decade later I still remember his words. “In this Church of ours there will be no outcasts,” he said.

There will be no outcasts.

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Announcements

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Christian Formation for March

We Invite You to a Holy Lent

Noon Eucharists: Wednesdays in Lent, followed by a lunch in the parish hall, provided by the women of the church.

Evening Eucharists: Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in the parish hall, followed by a pot luck supper.

Adult Christian Education: A series focusing on the seven deadly sins. Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in the Founders’ Room.

Lenten Film Series: Three Academy-award nominated films shown Sundays at 2 p.m. at Eleanor Ringel Gillespie’s home. Sign up sheets in the narthex. Here is the schedule:

• March 11 – Jesus Camp – This Oscar-nominated documentary follows a group of young children to Pastor Becky Fischer’s “Kids on Fire Summer Camp,” where kids are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God’s army and are schooled in how to take back America for Christ. Jesus Camp is a frightening look at the extremes of religious fundamentalism.
• March 18 –The Lives of Others – The winner of this year’s Oscar for best foreign film, The Lives of Others traces the disillusionment of Capt. Gerd Wiesler with his work for the Stasi, East Germany ’s all powerful secret police, whose stated goal is to know everything about “the lives of others.”
• March 25 – Deliver Us from Evil – This Oscar-nominated documentary looks at the murky waters of pedophilia in the Catholic priesthood and the Church’s culpability in covering it up, as told through the stories of three of the hundreds of victims of Catholic priest Oliver O’Grady, known to the families who trusted him as “Father Ollie.”

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Mary & Marth's Place

Mid-Day Programs-Thursdays 11:15 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Cost: $20 per class  

Thursday, March 15, Nobody Wants to Suffer: How the Cycle of Addiction Works - In this session, we will look at the process of attachment – things we long for – which leads to addiction, and examine the relationship between addiction and spiritual awareness. There are a variety of addictions from which we suffer, such as work, performance, responsibility, and intimacy – all of which would seem to protect us from pain.

Leader: Barbara Dolan Meinert is a spiritual director and holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction.

Thursday, March 29, How to Grow Your Gentle Observer - “One day you knew what you had to do,” writes Mary Oliver in her poem “The Journey”. She speaks of the moment when we become tired with our own selves and know that it is time to change. We will look at the call to gentleness that is needed to deal with ourselves and exercises that will help create the observer within us.

Leader: Leader: The Rev. Lynnsay Buehler, Director of The Julian of Norwich Center and Associate Priest at St. Bede’s Church.

For more information contact Mary & Martha’s Place at 404-239-9382 .

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Children and Youth News

Dear Friends,

Thank you to Jane and Greg Blount and Jana and Andy Delfino for leading Children’s Chapel in February. Children’s Chapel is geared for children who are three years old through 2nd grade. It provides a Gospel message that is fun and interactive. The children are also learning how to pray, especially the Lord’s Prayer. We meet every Sunday, except the first Sunday of each month, in the Parish Hall at 9:30. Afterwards, the children go to the nursery or come into church at the Peace. In March, we will meet on the 11th, 18th, and 25th. I hope your young children will join us.

The newly formed Education for Children and Youth Steering Committee had its first meeting in February. The purpose of the committee is to assist me in setting goals and priorities for the education program. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or concerns re education for children and youth, please feel free to speak with one of the committee members: Richard Stansbury, Sarah Hancock, Lucy Kaltenbach, Jane Lamkin, Vicki Ledet, Dick Harris , and Gilda Morris. And, of course, feel free to speak with me.

Feed the hungry…Be part of an inter-faith effort…Get fit…Have fun!! Yes, you can do all of these by participating in this year’s HUNGER WALK, which takes place on March 11th at 2:30 , starting in the Turner Field Blue Lot. Funds raised support the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Episcopal Charities Foundation, Jewish Federation Greater Atlanta, Lutheran Services of Georgia, Presbyterian Answer to Hunger, and St. Vincent de Paul Society. There will be a Family Fun area with carnival games, a space walk, and refreshments. There’s also a 10K Run which begins at 1pm . So, please sign up on the Outreach Bulletin Board to walk or to support the walkers with a financial donation.

Camp Mikell Schedule and Registration Packets are now available. Please see the Bulletin Board by the Nursery for the camp schedule. If you’d like a Registration Packet, please let me know.

~Yours,
Ellen

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Within Our Walls

SOUTHERN FOLK PASSION SERVICE:   Brenda Bynum reads the Passion narrative, and southern folk hymns are sung by the Meridian Chorale (which includes our own Laura Withers).  April 1st, 4:30, Druid Hills Baptist Church.  Free.

Outreach Update: The consensus at the January 21 st Outreach meeting was that we would promote activities that provide a hands-on experience in giving our time to several outreach activities. We identified the following as good potential activities:

• A Habitat house-building project.
• Holy Comforter support.
• Working with a refugee family as we did for our Katrina family.

Please sign-up on the Outreach Bulletin Board to help with any or all of these.

~ Josh Taylor , Outreach Chairman

MISSING TABLECLOTHS: St. Dunstan’s purchased 10 heavy cotton tablecloths from a restaurant supply company for use on our tables in 1999. When inventoried and placed in new bins there are now only 4 of them left. Does anyone know where the missing cloths are? We will need to replace the missing ones if they are not found. ~ Jane Lamkin

Joyous Toys RESULTS: 1,145 CHILDREN WOKE UP TO TOYS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING THANKS TO JOYOUS TOYS. Donations from St. Dunstan’s parishioners filled an entire bin – a large one. Thank you one and all.
~Elise McIntyre

HOLY COMFORTER DINNER: T he next date for St. Dunstan's to prepare supper at Holy Comforter is April 4th, and yes that is Holy Week. So please plan ahead to help out if you can! Let Nancy Dillon or Barbara Bradshaw know. Thanks.

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Thanks

Passages

Our Sympathy to Richard Stansbury on the death of his stepfather, Harry Durbin.

Our Sympathy to Beth Clinton on the death of her mother, Mary Beth Stokes Oliver, February 24.

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From the Organist and Choirmaster