Just to continue on the Michael Jackson theme--here is the organist at Trinity, Wall Street, doing a tribute postlude. Watch Robert Ridgell's fingers fly across that manual to combine "ABC" and "Beat It." I think our organ would break we tried that, here! For one thing, the Trinity instrument is actually a digital organ, whereas ours in real pipes and wind.
Lol. I love being Anglican/Episcopal. We have a great liturgical sense of humor.
-t
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sermon - Pentecost 4 2009
As promised, here's the sermon that Marili preached on Sunday while I was upstairs with the kids. It's a really solid sermon that launches from an analysis of the problem of child prodigies (think Michael Jackson) who are raised to believe that love is a reward for performance.
Here's the audio...
Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...
-t
Here's the audio...
Here's a direct link to the MP3 file...
-t
the "blog" of "unncessary" quotation marks
Meg directs my attention to the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks. Here's one church related "gem":
There are other amusing examples, like this one:
-t
There are other amusing examples, like this one:
-t
Rainy Days...
My softball game was rained out on Monday night. Sailing will probably be rainy, too, but that won't stop us unless the lightening comes. It may give me a chance to try out the pair of rain pants I picked up from MEC a few days ago. Have I said that Mountain Equipment Coop is one of the best stores in Toronto? Good prices on excellent equipment. I was particularly impressed with their selection of bags and packs the last time I was there. Would be kind of nice to have a waterproof duffel bag specifically for sailing gear. Kind of a go-bag for water fun. Anyway, the rain has been much needed. Our tomato plants seem very happy.
But last night I had a disturbing dream. In it, I was told that the Diocese rejected my application for an innovative ministry fund grant to fund the ARC. In the dream I was furious. I mean, livid! I demanded a meeting with the Bishop in which I told him exactly how I felt. I knew I was jeopardizing my future in the diocese, but I really didn't care. I was that angry.
In reality, something like this may just happen. I give the grant application a 50/50 shot. If I don't get it, we can still proceed, it's just going to be a lot harder. And if we don't get it, it's really going to shift the way I think about the Diocese. So far I've really been trying to work within the structures of the diocese to grow my church, but what if those structures are working against the mission of COTM?
I really feel caught between two different worlds and modes of ministry. On the one hand, there is the traditional inherited church with its traditional models of ministry. It's beautiful and comfortable and holds the spirit. On the other hand is something new that is also spirit filled. I feel like I can see what this new kind of church looks like--I've seen compelling glimpses in many places. Yet I'm not quite sure how to make it over that tipping-point edge. Within my parish setting I've got lots of freedom--more than enough--to explore and experiment. But what to do?! I've tried to create networks and alliances to connect our mission to the larger mission of the church, but I'm encountering resistance and apathy. It's frustrating to put my heart into something like the Anglican Resource Centre and get a shrug from the very people that are supposed to be encouraging the kind of mission it represents. We parish priests are being told that whatever is going to happen has to happen at the parish level, yet I'm also told in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that I really don't have the permission to do a lot of the things that I want to do. It's a very confusing time to be a parish priest.
I feel as though a breakthrough is coming. I just have to be patient and hopeful and continue to develop the pastoral relationship and missional imagination of this church. That means more talk and more sharing.
Rain is predicted for this afternoon. Off and on. Maybe some thunderstorms....
-t
But last night I had a disturbing dream. In it, I was told that the Diocese rejected my application for an innovative ministry fund grant to fund the ARC. In the dream I was furious. I mean, livid! I demanded a meeting with the Bishop in which I told him exactly how I felt. I knew I was jeopardizing my future in the diocese, but I really didn't care. I was that angry.
In reality, something like this may just happen. I give the grant application a 50/50 shot. If I don't get it, we can still proceed, it's just going to be a lot harder. And if we don't get it, it's really going to shift the way I think about the Diocese. So far I've really been trying to work within the structures of the diocese to grow my church, but what if those structures are working against the mission of COTM?
I really feel caught between two different worlds and modes of ministry. On the one hand, there is the traditional inherited church with its traditional models of ministry. It's beautiful and comfortable and holds the spirit. On the other hand is something new that is also spirit filled. I feel like I can see what this new kind of church looks like--I've seen compelling glimpses in many places. Yet I'm not quite sure how to make it over that tipping-point edge. Within my parish setting I've got lots of freedom--more than enough--to explore and experiment. But what to do?! I've tried to create networks and alliances to connect our mission to the larger mission of the church, but I'm encountering resistance and apathy. It's frustrating to put my heart into something like the Anglican Resource Centre and get a shrug from the very people that are supposed to be encouraging the kind of mission it represents. We parish priests are being told that whatever is going to happen has to happen at the parish level, yet I'm also told in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that I really don't have the permission to do a lot of the things that I want to do. It's a very confusing time to be a parish priest.
I feel as though a breakthrough is coming. I just have to be patient and hopeful and continue to develop the pastoral relationship and missional imagination of this church. That means more talk and more sharing.
Rain is predicted for this afternoon. Off and on. Maybe some thunderstorms....
-t
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Children's Church
Interesting day at church. Every few months we like to do something called "Children's Church." When that happens, the kids stay upstairs in the children's chapel for the whole time. I send the sacrament up to them from downstairs and they receive communion among themselves. The advantage of this is that Kerrie (and I) can construct an entire service for the kids without compromising anything for the sake of appealing to adults. Now, keep in mind that this is just something we do occasionally, certainly not every sunday. But it's a nice treat for the kids because it gives them a chance to celebrate the Eucharist in a very special way.
I've always intended to take a turn up with the kids myself, and send the sacrament down to the parents! But the problem was always dealing with the sermon. I can't be in two places at once. But two things lead me to be with the kids this Sunday. First, it was the last Children's Church until the fall. The second is that Kerrie was not going be here!
Normally Kerrie has one of two Assistants, which allows her to split the group in two as necessary for age. But since Kerrie was gone we had both teachers on hand, plus myself. That worked out pretty well, as it turns out. Kerrie and I had discussed what I was going to do ahead of time, but I ended up having to improvise a lot! For instance, we one of the kids read the story from the Gospel I realized the rest really weren't getting it. So decided to take another shot at declaring the Gospel. I got the kids to take parts and act it out. Everyone had a role! It was engaging and it really worked well... especially towards the end when the kids were really enjoying themselves.
The only problem I ran into was that I ran out of stuff to do with the kids with about 20 minutes left! At that point the momentum was for the kids to go downstairs to be with their parents for the tail end of the service. I decided not to resist. But next time I'l remember the lesson: you can never have enough activities for the kids!
The whole thing gave me a new appreciation for what Kerrie does. There is a lot of skill in Children's Ministry!
Meanwhile... downstairs Marili did an excellent job with the adults. I've already uploaded the audio podcast to iTunes, so if you are subscribing to Messiah sermons via iTunes you should be able to get it now. Otherwise, I'll post it here and on the Messiah Website once I get the video edited.
Incidentally, a visitor to COTM this morning told me that he watched our videos on the website. He said that what he found in person pretty much matched what he expected from the videos. Good confirmation that it's worth my time to do them.
-t
I've always intended to take a turn up with the kids myself, and send the sacrament down to the parents! But the problem was always dealing with the sermon. I can't be in two places at once. But two things lead me to be with the kids this Sunday. First, it was the last Children's Church until the fall. The second is that Kerrie was not going be here!
Normally Kerrie has one of two Assistants, which allows her to split the group in two as necessary for age. But since Kerrie was gone we had both teachers on hand, plus myself. That worked out pretty well, as it turns out. Kerrie and I had discussed what I was going to do ahead of time, but I ended up having to improvise a lot! For instance, we one of the kids read the story from the Gospel I realized the rest really weren't getting it. So decided to take another shot at declaring the Gospel. I got the kids to take parts and act it out. Everyone had a role! It was engaging and it really worked well... especially towards the end when the kids were really enjoying themselves.
The only problem I ran into was that I ran out of stuff to do with the kids with about 20 minutes left! At that point the momentum was for the kids to go downstairs to be with their parents for the tail end of the service. I decided not to resist. But next time I'l remember the lesson: you can never have enough activities for the kids!
The whole thing gave me a new appreciation for what Kerrie does. There is a lot of skill in Children's Ministry!
Meanwhile... downstairs Marili did an excellent job with the adults. I've already uploaded the audio podcast to iTunes, so if you are subscribing to Messiah sermons via iTunes you should be able to get it now. Otherwise, I'll post it here and on the Messiah Website once I get the video edited.
Incidentally, a visitor to COTM this morning told me that he watched our videos on the website. He said that what he found in person pretty much matched what he expected from the videos. Good confirmation that it's worth my time to do them.
-t
Betsy's New Blog
BTW, Betsy has a new blog to chronicle her adventures this summer: Betsy Abroad. She'll be in Athens taking more Byzantine Greek and then travelling around Greece and Macedonia looking at things relevant to her research. She won't be back in Toronto until August 15th.
In the meantime, until I go to Holy Cross in mid-July I'll be resisting the worst of my bachelor instincts to order pizza every night! Though, actually, I did manage to cook for myself last night (Fajitas). I can cook--but it's hard to motivate myself to cook for one!
-t
Friday, June 26, 2009
PodCasting
Of course I've been uploading audio and video of my sermons for quite some time, but just recently I set up a feed for the iTunes store--so now you can automatically download my sermons (and soon my videos) onto your iPod. Sweet! It turned out to be easier than I expected--should have done it years ago.
Click on the image above or this link will automatically open up iTunes and take it our podcasts!
-t
Straight out of Compline
In the "Anglican priests doing embarassing but funny things in cassocks" vault comes a new submission: The BCP Boys with "Straight Out of Compline."
Check out some of these fan Anglo-Catholic lyrics:
Straight outta Compline!
-t
Check out some of these fan Anglo-Catholic lyrics:
Straight outta Compline!
I'm a young priest who is fightin the beast
The only way to do it's when I'm facin' the east
I'm from the west coast of PEI
And I wantcha to know that my church is fly
I teach the Word as a rector
And I wear a biretta
For I gotta long cope with black rope
And it gives Anglos hope
My bells and smells are so dope
I'm not Johnny Cash but I dress in black
I got thirty-nine buttons in front of my back
My collar is visible
With a Spirit formidable
And I'm kissable
Well Hiltz was his name
A bishop who rose to fame
Put me in the game
He got me talkin 'bout the trinity
So quick you get sick of me
Straight outta compline!
-t
Thursday, June 25, 2009
EARLY music...
Anthropologists in Germany are publishing on an ancient flute that dates to 35,000 years ago. It's the oldest such instrument, yet, and supports other musical instrument finds that suggest that human beings have been making music for a very, very long time. Interestingly, a replica of the flute was found to have a "very harmonic" quality. It so happens that the Hohle Fels flute was uncovered in sediments a few feet away from the carved figurine of a busty, nude woman, also around 35,000 years old, noted Dr. Conard and his co-authors, Susanne C. Münzel of Tübingen and Maria Malina of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. That discovery was announced in May by Dr. Conard.
Was this evidence of happy hours after the hunt? Fertility rites or social bonding? The German archaeologists suggested that music in the Stone Age “could have contributed to the maintenance of larger social networks, and thereby perhaps have helped facilitate the demographic and territorial expansion of modern humans.” (source)
Yeah, or maybe they just liked how it made them feel to listen to the surreal musical sounds. Hard to imagine that this wasn't done with some mystical awe!
-t
OB vs. Midwife
So... my wife, Betsy, is pregnant--15 weeks now. We had our first appointment with an OB/GYN two or three weeks ago, but I didn't really write much about it because, honestly, we were really disappointed by the experience. I mean, the doctor herself seemed to be perfectly competent, but she was extremely rushed. First, we had to wait 45 minutes. Then, we were rushed, rushed, rushed through a series of questions that were obviously intended to find red flags. There being none, the doctor and her nurse clearly wanted to get through the exam as quickly as possible.
I've worked in hospitals.... I understand about practicing defensive medicine and playing the odds and all that, but excellent care goes beyond merely doing what's necessary. A telling example, after betsy was told to put her clothes back on, the doctor knocked and let herself into the exam room before Betsy was even finished dressing. the doctor wanted us out, but I managed to sneak in a question anyway, "Since Betsy is traveling, can you prescribe some medicines that will be safe for her to take if she gets sick? Like an antibiotic, or something?" the doctor was strangely stumped by this question and told us to ask our "family doctor." But as we had explained several times before, Betsy doesn't have a "family doctor"--she uses the University Health Clinic. And really, shouldn't the OB be the expert on what medicines are safe for a pregnant woman?
There were a lot of other things that went wrong with that visit--I'm only using one of several examples of things that did not impress me. Afterwards I felt like a cow that had been forced through a series of cutes in an elaborate meat packaging factory: disoriented, ignorant, and ultimately stunned!
So after that we decided to go with a midwife. The doctor at the University Health Clinic never explained to Betsy that midwives work as an alternative to OB's in the Ontario Health system. One or the other manages the case, not both. So it was only after meeting with the OB that we were told we had an option to choose a midwife as an alternative to conventional care.
There was a waiting period. But after about a week or two a midwife practice in downtown called us to set up an appointment. We went. My... why a difference! To begin with, rather than meeting in the basement of the hospital, we went to a quaint house that felt like a home. There was air and light and even a library for clients to use. Toys kids and magazines for parents. Lots of baby pictures on the walls. The midwife's examining room/office was decorated in a warm and informal way. I noted two flutes hanging in a pouch on a door nob (when is the last time you saw music instruments in a clinic). the only medical equipment I could see was a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, sharps container, and box of gloves. A flat futton-like bed with pillows was in the corner. It felt warm and comfortable. I'm sure there was more gear in the closet, but the room was obviously design to make us feel comfortable, not to make it easy for clinicians to access gear.
We spent a whole hour with the midwife just talking about how midwives work and what sort of options are available. They really try to focus the care around the paradigm of women making informed decisions for themselves. Their role is to be guides. When we asked about pain control, for example, they said that although drugs are available, they prefer to control pain with "knowledge." Practically speaking, that means being smart about using all kinds of techniques like massage, positions, herbal remedies, etc., etc., to control pain. Another telling detail, when Betsy does begin labour they will come to our home to help us determine when it's time to go to the hospital. And once Betsy comes back home they will continue to visit us there to help us transition into caring for an infant. The OB, on the other, emphatically emphasized that once the baby is out she's no longer in the picture. I'm really glad we are going this way. The whole hour talking about what kind of experience we want to have--imagine that!
After the midwife appointment I went over to the Toronto Islands for my Wednesday night race. The start was delayed due to low wind. We may have won the start, but the committee boat couldn't see us due to a hair-ball of boats blocking the view. In the end the course was shorted to just one windward leg. We finished 6th out of 8 boats racing in our class. The most exciting thing that happened was a boat almost colliding with us as we rounded the mark defining one end of the finish line. I had to fend aggressively to keep the boats apart.
Also today--did more errands in preparation for Betsy's trip to Athens. Hard to believe she's leaving on Saturday for two months away! There is much to do in the meantime.
Now I'm tired. Bed beckons...
-t
I've worked in hospitals.... I understand about practicing defensive medicine and playing the odds and all that, but excellent care goes beyond merely doing what's necessary. A telling example, after betsy was told to put her clothes back on, the doctor knocked and let herself into the exam room before Betsy was even finished dressing. the doctor wanted us out, but I managed to sneak in a question anyway, "Since Betsy is traveling, can you prescribe some medicines that will be safe for her to take if she gets sick? Like an antibiotic, or something?" the doctor was strangely stumped by this question and told us to ask our "family doctor." But as we had explained several times before, Betsy doesn't have a "family doctor"--she uses the University Health Clinic. And really, shouldn't the OB be the expert on what medicines are safe for a pregnant woman?
There were a lot of other things that went wrong with that visit--I'm only using one of several examples of things that did not impress me. Afterwards I felt like a cow that had been forced through a series of cutes in an elaborate meat packaging factory: disoriented, ignorant, and ultimately stunned!
So after that we decided to go with a midwife. The doctor at the University Health Clinic never explained to Betsy that midwives work as an alternative to OB's in the Ontario Health system. One or the other manages the case, not both. So it was only after meeting with the OB that we were told we had an option to choose a midwife as an alternative to conventional care.
There was a waiting period. But after about a week or two a midwife practice in downtown called us to set up an appointment. We went. My... why a difference! To begin with, rather than meeting in the basement of the hospital, we went to a quaint house that felt like a home. There was air and light and even a library for clients to use. Toys kids and magazines for parents. Lots of baby pictures on the walls. The midwife's examining room/office was decorated in a warm and informal way. I noted two flutes hanging in a pouch on a door nob (when is the last time you saw music instruments in a clinic). the only medical equipment I could see was a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, sharps container, and box of gloves. A flat futton-like bed with pillows was in the corner. It felt warm and comfortable. I'm sure there was more gear in the closet, but the room was obviously design to make us feel comfortable, not to make it easy for clinicians to access gear.
We spent a whole hour with the midwife just talking about how midwives work and what sort of options are available. They really try to focus the care around the paradigm of women making informed decisions for themselves. Their role is to be guides. When we asked about pain control, for example, they said that although drugs are available, they prefer to control pain with "knowledge." Practically speaking, that means being smart about using all kinds of techniques like massage, positions, herbal remedies, etc., etc., to control pain. Another telling detail, when Betsy does begin labour they will come to our home to help us determine when it's time to go to the hospital. And once Betsy comes back home they will continue to visit us there to help us transition into caring for an infant. The OB, on the other, emphatically emphasized that once the baby is out she's no longer in the picture. I'm really glad we are going this way. The whole hour talking about what kind of experience we want to have--imagine that!
After the midwife appointment I went over to the Toronto Islands for my Wednesday night race. The start was delayed due to low wind. We may have won the start, but the committee boat couldn't see us due to a hair-ball of boats blocking the view. In the end the course was shorted to just one windward leg. We finished 6th out of 8 boats racing in our class. The most exciting thing that happened was a boat almost colliding with us as we rounded the mark defining one end of the finish line. I had to fend aggressively to keep the boats apart.
Also today--did more errands in preparation for Betsy's trip to Athens. Hard to believe she's leaving on Saturday for two months away! There is much to do in the meantime.
Now I'm tired. Bed beckons...
-t
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Prayer Book is a Girl's Best Friend
The Rev'd Suzanne Guthrie, who often does workshops on monastic and mystical spirituality at Holy Cross, has this hilarious video on her blog. Suzanne is "good people"--I've known her for about six or seven years now through Holy Cross. These days she lives on "the edge of enclosure" with her husband as a resident companion of the Community of the Holy Spirit in NY. "The sisters at Bluestone Farm and Learning Center strive to live a life reflecting sustainable living, social justice, and spiritual fulfillment. Daily life involves organic farming, (maple sugaring, planting, tending, gathering and preserving food, raising chickens, ducks, and bees), as well as fellowship, "Eucharistic Living", service to others, and individual artistic pursuits. We chant the traditional monastic offices (Lauds, Noonday Prayers, Vespers, Compline), using inclusive language and an acknowledgment of how the “new cosmology” affects and informs our faith." Doesn't that sound like someone you'd like to hang out with?!
Go Suzanne!
-t
Go Suzanne!
-t
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)