Povey Prattle

(With thanks to my former colleague Bob Ginn. His Facebook posting inspired this screed.  He is not responsible for what I write!) So, the “rapture” did not happen today (unless I have been hangin’ around with the wrong people and am therefore “left behind” (lol). I am not sure who is the most stupid in all of this kerfuffle. Is it Harold Camping , the California pastor who “crunched the numbers” based on Noah’s universal flood (itself unhistorical and mythical)?  ( Garbage in – garbage out - as if God’s word is all a matter of numerology). Is it his sad followers, some of whom liquidated all their assets in preparation for the “great hoax”?  I could feel sorry for them – except that they too have minds, minds which have been closed to history and science, and have been opened to speculation alone. Or is it the media – press, T.V., blogs, social networks etc -  the list goes on -  who have reported Pastor Camping’s nonsense as if it were somehow “true”?   Excuse my language,

“God’s Bestseller” is the story of  William Tyndale (c1494 – 1536), the translator of the most formative English Bible  (some 85% of Tyndale’s work remains in the Authorised Version (know in the U.S.A. as the “King James Bible”). The author of  "God's Bestseller" is Brian Moynahan. His book was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2002. --------------------------------- I grew up in Bristol, U.K.  not very far from the village  North Nibley in Gloucestershire where pious Victorians erected a tower in honour of William Tyndale. (see above)   They thought that he had been born there. In fact he came from nearby Slimbridge. Not many miles from Slimbridge is the village of Little Sodbury, where Tyndale became a tutor for Sir John Walsh. Walsh’s Manor yet stands.    In a former life I sometimes preached in Tyndale’s Chapel (Baptist) in that little village. (The name “Sodbury” derives from two Anglo-Saxon words: sod - meaning  south, and bury - meaning a camp). (Those of you w

Pope Benedict is beckoning Anglicans into the Church of Rome with the promise of “Anglican Rite” status. I wonder which Rite he has in mind..... Is it the 1549 rite ( more or less the one used in the 1928 American BCP, and in “Rite One” of the 1976/79 American BCP)? 1549 is filled with polemic against the Church of Rome’s doctrine of the Mass. (See hi-lighted extracts below). Has the Pope analysed this Liturgy? 1549 And here we offer and present unto thee (0 Lord) our selves, our souls, and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee: humbly beseeching thee, that whosoever shall be partakers of this holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy son Jesus Christ: anbd be fulfilled with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with thy son Jesu Christ, that he may dwell in them, and they in him. And although we be unworthy (through our manifold sins) to offer unto thee any Sacrifice: Yet we beseech thee to

August 15th 1945 V.J. Day The Victory of the Allies over the Japanese Empire. August 15th 1984 - I began my ministry at St. Stephen's, Pittsfield, MA August 15th 2000 - I began my ministry at St. James's, Cambridge, MA August 15th - in the Roman Catholic Church - "The Feast of the Assumption", August 15th - in the Anglican Churches - "The Feast of St. Mary". Say what? Here is the August 15th prayer. Hail Mary, full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,and at the hour of death. Amen.

Now that I have gotten your attention with a naughty header, I refer you to today’s (July 27th) statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, following the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2502 Read it if you will. It is hard sledding. I read it and in another naughty moment, it made me think of this bit from T.S. Elliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1919) No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use,Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-- Almost, at times, the Fool . Already both liberal and conservative Christians are picking the Archbishop’s statement apart, phrase by phrase, and line by line. Neither liberals nor conservatives like it, for after all it is indeed: Politic, cautious, and meticul

This friend and his wife have each undergone serious and major surgery. Here he writes on prayer. I think that he is on to something. Some more theology, thank you for the replies to last night. If you believe (I don’t) that in answer to prayer, maybe enough prayer or prayer with enough faith that we get answers that change real physical circumstances in this world, you have to face the real question of why it only works sometimes, I would say not very often. Was it an answer to prayer that the surgeon was fantastic and a failure of prayer that some of the nursing was rubbish? The trouble with the theology of God answering our prayer requests is that you need a theology for when He doesn’t. Many of these are available …. God allowed you to go through this because he knew you were strong enough to take it ! (thanks a lot!) ….. This is a test of you faith! (Let’s see whose faith needs testing….zap), at some time in the future you will understand the answer … the list goes on. To me, (

Before you read my final report on CREDO (which I know you long to do!), please watch the marvelous John Cleese on Palin/McCain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMyNk8J1c8g CREDO COLLEAGUES It was wonderful to see two former Western Massachusetts colleagues at CREDO, Marilyle Sweet Page from Rochester, NY, and Denis Ford now in Colorado. Marilyle had been in Westfield, MA. Denis had been in Springfield, MA, and later he was in Lee MA. I enjoyed these colleagues in Western Mass, and it was great to see them again. Since those days Marilyle’s husband had died, as had Dennis’ wife. Denis is now very happily re-married. There were new colleagues to meet. Most were fine and enjoyable new acquaintances, but there were also two or three doozies. I relaxed in the thought that I’d never have to meet the doozies again. (Perhaps they thought the same about me!). But on the whole I am happy to say that I was with a good group of retired colleagues, all my peers. I liked most of them, and most

CREDO provided a skilled faculty, members of which enabled plenary sessions, workshops, worship and individual consultations. We were led in such on the four themes of health, finance, spiritual life and vocation. Daily Worship in the Chapel was gentle and filled with lovely quietness. The rhythm of daily worship and the lusty singing of hymns brought a sense of well being. But I lamented the lack of inclusive language. God was always referred to as “he”, and most of the pronouns were in the masculine gender. John Harris of Cincinnati, OH and Phyllis Strupp of Scottsdale, AZ excelled in the areas of finance. John was particularly good in matters relation to taxes; the Church Pension Fund; and Social Security/Medicare. Phyllis excelled in her plenary and in an individual consultation on long term financial planning. Mary Margaret Davis RN, of Alaska was great on health. She had a “guilt free”, and encouraging attitude to matters of diet and exercise. Ernie Bennett of Florida was a

One measure of a Conference Centre is the quality of the food. Duncan Conference Cente excelled in this field. We were provided with a constant supply of reasonably healthy snacks, sodas, juices and iced tea. Coffee (that great Sacrament of the Church!), was available from 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. Breakfast included oatmeal, grits, sausage, egg and bacon, together with sweet pastries. For diet conscious folks like I there was also fresh fruit in abundance. Lunch saw good salads and soups, together with a hot main course, or sandwich fixings. For dinner there was the usual meat (usually pork or chicken); lovely vegetables (crunchy and not over-cooked); and various carbs., such as pasta or rice. So I was able to stay on diet, and gained but a pound in one week. I did let loose on Friday night when we were served a barbecue. I enjoyed a cheeseburger (without bread), a barbecued chicken leg, and barbecued shrimp. I enjoyed being off diet for one night! Hats off to the Duncan Confere

Behold “Generation Y” (thanks to Pam B who sent me this). ================================= Here is the CREDO “Mission Statement” To provide opportunities for people to examine significant areas oftheir lives and to discern prayerfully the future direction of their vocation as they respond to God's call in a lifelong process of practice and transformation. Sure sounds like gobble-de-gook to me! But then again, I take a dim view of most “mission statements”. I believe that most groups/committees/ boards etc take endless hours to produce a “mission statement”, then having published the same with a fanfare of self-congratulation, the statement is ignored or forgotten. (I also take a jaded view of words such as “vision”, or “transformation” which are employed by organizations such as CREDO. “Planning” is a much more realistic word than “vision”, and “change” a more realistic word than “transformation”!) But at CREDO 156, we did take a look at significant areas of our lives

Duncan Conference Center, Delray Beach, FL ====================================================== On the first two days of the CREDO conference we were all much like cats. Some folks were sniffing at each other, wondering if they’d get along. Others (such as I) were prowling around on the edge of things, showing up for food, but all the while looking for an escape route should one be necessary. By the end of the conference there had not been one single cat fight. We were each resolved to get along. But I was sharpening my claws “just in case”. One woman “drove me crazy”. She kept up a running commentary in the plenary sessions, and was always the first to answer a question. Then I realized that she was not a constantly mewing cat, rather she was simply “thinking out loud”. So I was able to tune out her babble and did not need to get mad. Inevitably a couple of participants prowled at the edges all week. I could but hope that they were enjoying the event even though the

With two former Western Mass colleagues, at CREDO Dennis Ford and Mary Lyle Sweet Page I have just returned from CREDO # 156 at Delray Beach, Florida, (a four hour drive from my home) For more information about CREDO see http://www.episcopalcredo.org/about.us/ I’ll write about the Conference every day this week. For now, I’ll tell you about the moment the ice was broken. Conference attendee Alan Grant of Minneapolis was talking. He told us about his recent bout with prostate cancer, and the removal of a cancerous place on the tip of his tongue. He said: “because I had surgery on the tip of my tongue I talk funny. If you can’t understand me --- tough shit”. From then onwards we each let down our guards! A couple of days later Alan came up to me and without explanation began to recite a very old limerick. I’d heard the limerick years ago, but was still reduced to helpless giggles “On the chest of a barmaid from Yale were tattooed all the prices of ale; and on her behind for the sak