Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan, Greer, at a very important meeting. I think he's getting some surprising news.

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Confirmations, Midwives, Ballcocks, and Pork Roasts!

Sunday was fantastic. Between confirmations and Back-to-Church Sunday we had 115 people in church (that's more than last Easter)! Eric brought in a soloist and a trumpeter. Bishop Blackwell preached and presided. He is a retired bishop with a long connection to Messiah. He was baptized, married, and ordained deacon in our church. So was his wife (they met at Messiah)! He was very pleased with what he found. "It has energy," he said, "so many churches I visit now are just dead." Yep, that's how I feel!

The confirmations went off without a hitch. One of the candidates has special needs (Autism) and didn't feel comfortable coming up the rail to being confirmed with the other candidates. So the bishop I went down to him. One of the members of the congregation remarked that it was one of the most moving things he had ever seen in church. "I had tears in my eyes. It was like, 'If you can't come to God, God will come to you.'" Indeed. We gave all the confirmands crosses and many congratulations.

Younger kids we ecstatic when we set up the "Bouncy Castle" during coffee hour. This is a huge inflated room that the kids can jump around in. We rent one for the kids once or twice a year. Always a hit.

But the confirmation joy isn't over yet. On Thursday we are taking the kids to Holy Cross. it's going to be amazing! we aren't going to be back until Sunday evening! We have great plans...

Also, the kids want to have a nice dinner together (just the six of them). It just so happens that a VERY nice restaurant near the church owes the church a free meal. The owner often parks in our parking lot despite many warnings not to. He said he'd give us free meals to make up for it. So I think I'm going to cash in that chit. I sent the owner a note yesterday. I feel pretty good about being able to give our kids that gift! Being the neighbourhood priest is all about that kind of opportunity.

An amazing day a church. Tons of people and a lot of happiness! It will be interesting to find out how that affects this upcoming Sunday. I won't be there (with the confirmands at Holy Cross), but the Rev'd Marili Moore will. I hear she is going to be singing one of the most difficult eucharistic prayer settings in the missal. The Marili is a trained opera singer, so this setting won't be hard for her.

I feel as though all the cylinders are hitting at Church of The Messiah. The machine is just purring in perfect time! There is still a lot to do. There is plenty to improve upon, but still, I'm extremely pleased with how things are going!

Sunday afternoon I had to stay until around 3:30 waiting for the the guys to come pick up the bouncy castle. After that I came home and watched football until I started falling asleep. Went to bed early--ah... the Sunday afternoon nap!

This morning the day started with a trip to the Midwife. This visit was with the "back-up" midwife. The practice assigns you two midwives, a primary and back-up. That way, if one midwife is tied up with a birth, you always have a backup. But if neither are conflicted than you have both with you (in such a case the primary deals with mom, the secondary with baby). Our secondary midwife turns out to be connected with us in a tangential way. She sings for the Pax Christi Choir--and I did their website! I know the Artistic Director, Stephanie Martin, well from SMM days! She even remembers Betsy taking pictures of one of their concerts last year!

We did the usual check-up measures (sugar/protein in urine, blood pressure, fetal heart rate, baby size and position). Everything looks good. In fact, our boy is now head-down in the womb, which means he will likely stay that way for the rest of the pregnancy. We asked about whether we could travel for American Thanksgiving (a resounding, "no") and about breast pumps and such things. At the end of the meeting I asked whether the midwife would mind praying with us. She seemed happy with that, so I said a prayer.

After dropping Betsy off at school I picked up a pork roast for dinner. Got it going in the crockpot and then started fixing a broken toilet. I replaced a broken ballcock and seat. Now I'm just chilling out with a little football recorded from yesterday.

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Video of Union Station B2CS Event

Here is a video based on the bishops' event at Union Station this morning. If you are interested in knowing more about Back to Church Sunday in the Diocese of Toronto, I heartily recommend Rev. Michael Calderwood's blog. He discusses it in more detail than I've done in these pages! You might also look at the Diocese's Back To Church Sunday Resource page.



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Operation MITRE

Philip + with Fr. Michelle in background

Colin + with Fr. Jeff in background

Regular readers know I'm one of the people in the Diocese of Toronto involved in making the Back to Church initiative happen. This is a programme coming out of the Church of England that encourages parishioners to invite people to church with them on a particular Sunday (this year: Sept. 27th).

The planning group met with Bishop Poole last week and decided that we needed to do something big to get some media attention and to encourage local churches and parishioners. So we decided to have the bishops stand in front of Union Station in Toronto handing out invitations to church! We ended up sending down four bishops (Colin, Patrick, Linda, and Philip) in full Regalia (alb, cope and mitre). Each bishop was given a chaplain in case the episcopal presence necessitated a major pastoral need. So Michelle Childs, Jeff Kennedy, Angela Emmerson, and I were there to field anyone who felt the need to have a longer conversation. We also had our Diocesan PR person (Stuart Mann) plus a consultant brought in to help with media relations.

First surprise: lots of media. Even before we left the Diocesan HQ at 6:40 A.M. Philip+ had done a radio interview for CBC. Two TV stations sent crews to meet us at the site. They cut live into Breakfast Television (a show on CityTV) for interviews with the bishop. We may be on CTV and CP24 tonight. For print media we had people from the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and The National Post.

Second surprise: the media lingered. The reporters seemed quite engaged with the scene and stayed the whole time (about two hours) we were there. They snapped pitures and took man-on-the-street interviews.

Third surprise: we were received well by the crowds. We handed out 2,000 invitations in about an hour and a half. We had very, very little negativity. Most people accepted the invitations we handed out. A few declined. Others went out of their way to receive our handouts. Some were really glad to see us and greeted us enthusiastically. Two or three asked us to pray with them. Very few had anything negative to say, and that is remarkable!

So we walked back to the Diocesan offices to debrief feeling pretty good about ourselves! Certainly we managed to create some buzz!

Early press: Toronto Star....

Bishops make pitch to startled commuters
Denise Balkissoon
Staff Reporter

Idling taxis, hot dog stands and four smiling Anglican bishops in full regalia. That was the sight greeting sleepy-eyed commuters leaving Union Station during this morning's rush hour.

Sporting long, damask robes of pearly white or sky blue, heads topped with pointed bishop's hats, the clergy passed out cards encouraging the Bay Street hordes to make their way to a house of worship this Sunday. Most people accepted the handout drowsily, without comment; others seemed startled or amused at the group's elaborate outfits. A few passers-by stopped for quick chats before scurrying along to their offices.

"You invite people to baseball games or to the movies," said Bishop of Toronto Colin Johnson. "Traditionally, we've not been good at inviting people to come to church." .... (source)

The whole thing felt very Ninja-Priest like. I mean, there we were right in on the busiest spots in all of Canada, saying, "Good Morning!" Naturally, I got some video. I'm working like a madman in Premiere Pro editing it together...

Here's some of the National Post's take:

In full regalia, Anglican bishops go to Union Station seeking parishioners
By Matthew Coutts

A sight more commonly saved for Sunday, or not at all, greeted commuters leaving Union Station this morning: Anglican bishops in their ecclesiastical vestments welcoming them with a smile.

Wearing the white pointed hats, or mitres, and flowing gowns reserved for the leaders in the Anglican community, several area bishops gathered to invite passerby back to church.

Four bishops, including the Bishop of Toronto Colin Johnson, and several volunteers, canvassed Union Station as part of an international Christian initiative that designated September 27 as “Back to Church Sunday.”

“People have been falling out of the habit of going to their churches or places of worship,” said Bishop Philip Poole, area bishop for York-Credit Valley as he handed out simple cards inviting the recipient to be a guest at their local church.

“This isn’t about Anglican proselytization, this is about promoting a return to your place of worship.”

Bishop Poole said while most people will rush past to get to work, many people stop for a brief chat. Some of the most receptive were people from other religions, he said, who were open to discussing their connection to the their faith.

Dressed in a flowing baby blue gown, known as copes, Bishop Poole caught the eyes of a number of pedestrians as Bishop Linda Nicholls chatted with a young man while wearing a similar white and red outfit nearby. .... (Source)

A great way to spend the morning!

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World's Youngest Preacher

Behold Kanon Tipton--"The World's Youngest Preacher." Also, a viral video star....



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Paperless Alleluia Rough Cut

This is a rough cut of the paperless alleluia we did on Eric's first Sunday. when I get a chance I'll clean it up some, but I have to dash to another meeting in a few minutes...



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The Bishop!

The bishops are much on my mind. I had a meeting with two last week, and I'll be seeing more of them this week, too. The bishops will be at Union Station here in Toronto on Thursday morning in full regalia to draw attention to the Back to Church Sunday initiative. Bishop Yu asked me to serve as his "chaplain." Each bishop will have on of us nearby to handle any pastoral needs that may arise from the situations. No doubt we'll get some crazies... and probably some people with pressing pastoral needs, as well! Having us around the bishops will also help people realize this the real deal, and not just three or four nut jobs.

I was planning to be there anyway, as I was asked to get a little footage for You Tube.

I'll seeing a bishop again on Sunday--Bishop Blackwell is coming to Messiah to do the confirmations.

All this made me think of some of my favourity Monty Python bishop skits. Behold this classic:



The central conceit of this skit is telling; the bishop and his cronies attempting to rescue hapless priests from being killed in comical ways. Alas, the days when I thought yelling "help" out the window would bring the bishop's assistance came to a close when I was in seminary. Back then I belonged to a different diocese (not Toronto) and I desperately needed the bishop's help and sent him letters. He didn't respond, or, for that matter, pass the letter on the Canon to the Ordinary or do anything else about my need. When I saw him about a year later I told him in person how disappointed I was that he didn't respond to me. He apologized and meant it, but it wasn't the first or last time he let me down. I remember thinking, cruelly, that that he apologized like someone who does it a lot. At the time I became a little bitter about my relationship to the bishop and the diocese, to be honest.

Years later I would find out that during this period the Bishop's wife had been suffering from a degenerative neurological condition. No one knew just how overwhelmed he was until after he took early retirement to care for her. He kept it from almost everyone, and it became understandably difficult for him to pay attention to some seminarian in trouble. He was a really nice guy, don't get me wrong, and I loved him, but I learned pretty quick that neither the bishop nor his staff were going to do much to help me.

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Eucharistic Prayer H1N1

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Baby's Got Book

The RCL called for Proverbs 31:10-31 to be read today in church. This is the famous "good wife" passage that used to be read at weddings. It's easy to think that the gender role it prescribes to women is a bit old fashioned, but it's worth pointing out how progressive parts of the passage read. "She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong" (Prov. 31:16-17). It's actually a very beautiful passage that I would recommend to anyone.

Anyway, Proverbs 31 comes up in this funny video that came out a few years ago:



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How Top-Level Organists Get Fired

Two years ago Owen Burdick, Director of Music at Trinity, Wall Street, left abruptly. It was the said that he resigned, but neither he nor the church would elaborate. Now he has broken his silence to complain about his former parish, saying that they fired him because he was an out-of-control alcoholic, but that they are not giving him sufficient credit for his role in the parish's musical history. "'It was simple,' he said recently in his first interview since his disappearance. 'I'm an alcoholic. I was out of control. I needed to leave.'" (Source)

So now after living in a Buddhist Monastery for a while he is back on the scene, monk robes and all, claiming that Trinity isn't giving him proper due for his contributions. Interestingly, his claims that he is "ignored" on the website and not given credit for some performances don't really pan out:

The Trinity Web site, trinitywallstreet.org, does not currently ignore Mr. Burdick. The choir-page biography lists him as one of its last two directors. A small archive of concert videos includes one of his performances — but not the version of Handel’s “Messiah” that boosted his reputation, he notes, or his many other performances that used to be there. He receives credit in the section about radio broadcasts on WQXR and on the four recordings there, in contrast to some of the actual broadcasts where his name was omitted in the recorded announcement. (source)

So how bad did he get when he was "out of control"?

Confronted with complaints by choir members that he was at times abusive and erratic, he admitted that he could be cruel. He once spat at the tenors. (They came to a later rehearsal with raincoats and umbrellas, he noted.) He declined to discuss his drinking or inappropriate behavior further.

He also said friction with the leadership had grown, especially after the arrival of Mr. Cooper [the Rector], who took over in 2004. Mr. Burdick lived with a former choir member while separated from his wife. Mr. Cooper, he said, “wanted me to be divorced, to be legal about it.”(source)

Interestingly, something similar happened with Healey Willan at St. Mary Magdalene's many years ago. He was having an affair with a member of the choir and the Rector threatened to fire him if he didn't stop. Willan refused and was fired. About a year later he wrote a letter apologizing, promising amendment of life, and begging to be hired back. He was, of course, given his bench back.

Anyway, the Trinity thing is interesting. Honestly, it sounds to me like the Trinity leadership handled the situation very well and as though Burdick's current complaints are nit-picky at best. Even though he is violating his severance agreement, he is betting that the church won't sue him over it. Seems like his ego is still smarting from the dismissal, despite what he says.

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Mapping Sin

Wired Magazine reports about a study of sin and geography. Researches at Kansas State made maps of where sin takes place in the US by creating statistical measures of sins like "Wrath" by looking at data like "Number of violent crimes per capita." They the made maps of the data.

Red in more "sinful"--golden-brown is more saintly...



Greed
Average income compared with number of people living below the poverty line.
Envy
Total thefts (robbery, burglary, larceny, and grand theft auto) per capita.
Wrath
Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.
Sloth
Expenditures on art, entertainment, and recreation compared with employment.
Gluttony
Number of fast-food restaurants per capita.
Lust
Number of STD cases reported per capita.
Pride
Aggregate of the other six offenses—-because pride is the root of all sin.

Hmm. The deep South doesn't do so well!

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Busking...

This is from a well-known social experiment done a few years ago by the Washington Post. It has been repeated in other cities with similar results. I often think of this when I see Buskers trying to make a little money on the street or transit system of Toronto:

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

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