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ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC April 1st
by Wanda Holcombe 01 Apr '13

01 Apr '13

Our Austin ICA colleagues Nick & Deborah Denner are traveling this holiday weekend to Ashville, North Carolina to set up their new home of living and working. Some of you may remember Nick as Zapher Denner who worked with us in the 1980's with LENS out of the Hong Kong Centrum. If any of you live in the Ashville area, I hope you will welcome and be in contact with them as to the great gift of having ICA colleagues nearby. They were an active member of our Austin ICA/Order group who met monthly to share food, study & lively dialogue.... Deborah is an Alpha Biotic caregiver and will be setting up her practice in Ashville as they settle in to their new life. Nick is a "master green builder, gardener, etc", Asian health and wellness expert and ICA Methods practitioner. They said it was okay to share their contact information in case anyone wanted to be in touch with them: Mailing: PO Box 2326, Ashville NC 28802 Nick: Cell Phone: (512) 567-6911 Email: nick.denner(a)yahoo.com Deborah: Cell Phone (512) 557-6555 Email: debdenner14(a)yahoo.com Best wishes Nick & Deborah in your new life pathway. We will miss their wisdom and presence in Austin. Grace & Peace Wanda Wanda Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Trail Austin TX 78728 Email: wandah70(a)gmail.com Cell Phone: 512-619-3469

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"Journey Reflection" March 2013 Top-viewed Blogs
by Lynda Cock 31 Mar '13

31 Mar '13

Dear colleagues, Following are the top-viewed blog posts: March <http://rejourney.blogspot.com/2013/03/journey-reflection-blog-review-march. html> 2013. As always your suggestions, comments and sharing with others are appreciated. We wish you a profound Easter season, Lynda and John PS: Due to a careless deletion in early March, we lost over 2,000 of our images/photos/art attached to the daily blogs. Since then we have restored about 500, especially late 2011-2013, and hope to have all restored in the months to come. Even if an image is removed, most blog posts have an image source link. Happy blogging. PPS: If anyone has a good Google connection, please let us know so we can talk with them about this announcement http://rejourney.blogspot.com/2013/03/help-google-community.html. >Daily Blog: "Journey Reflection" at these 4 links ... Google: <http://www.rejourney.blogspot.com/> www.reJourney.blogspot.com Google Plus: <https://plus.google.com/u/0/114307312715975337692/posts> Journey Reflection/Google Plus Facebook: <https://www.facebook.com/transcribebooks> https://www.facebook.com/transcribebooks Twitter: <https://twitter.com/transcribebooks> https://twitter.com/transcribebooks >Web Page: <http://www.transcribebooks.com/> www.transcribebooks.com >Books: <https://www.amazon.com/author/johnpcock> https://www.amazon.com/author/johnpcock

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ICA Colleagues Moving to Ashville NC First of April
by Wanda Holcombe 30 Mar '13

30 Mar '13

Our Austin ICA colleagues Nick & Deborah Denner are traveling this holiday weekend to Ashville, North Carolina to set up their new home of living and working. Some of you may remember Nick as Zapher Denner who worked with us in the 1980's with LENS out of the Hong Kong Centrum. If any of you live in the Ashville area, I hope you will welcome and be in contact with them as to the great gift of having ICA colleagues nearby. They were an active member of our Austin ICA/Order group who met monthly to share food, study & lively dialogue.... Deborah is an Alpha Biotic caregiver and will be setting up her practice in Ashville as they settle in to their new life. Nick is a "master green builder, gardener, etc", Asian health and wellness expert and ICA Methods practitioner. They said it was okay to share their contact information in case anyone wanted to be in touch with them: Mailing: PO Box 2326, Ashville NC 28802 Nick: Cell Phone: (512) 567-6911 Email: nick.denner(a)yahoo.com Deborah: Cell Phone (512) 557-6555 Email: debdenner14(a)yahoo.com Best wishes Nick & Deborah in your new life pathway. We will miss their wisdom and presence in Austin. Grace & Peace Wanda Wanda Holcombe 14900 Yellowleaf Trail Austin TX 78728 Email: wandah70(a)gmail.com Cell Phone: 512-619-3469

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3/28/13, Spong: Did the Crucifixion Take Place at the Time of Passover?
by Ellie Stock 28 Mar '13

28 Mar '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR Did the Crucifixion Take Place at the Time of Passover? Mark, the earliest gospel to be written (ca. 72 CE) locates the crucifixion of Jesus in the season of Passover, suggesting that the “Last Supper” was a Passover meal. Matthew, the second gospel to be written (ca, 82-85), and Luke, the third (ca. 88-93), follow Mark’s lead and between the three of them the Passover-crucifixion connection was installed deeply into the Christian tradition. Most people today assume this connection and think of it as historically real. John, the last gospel to be written (ca. 95-100), destabilizes this connection, but only very slightly. He says the “Last Supper” was not the Passover meal, but one eaten in preparation for or in anticipation of the Passover. This new detail in the passion narrative enabled John to present the crucifixion of Jesus as occurring at the exact time that the Passover lamb was being slaughtered, tying together quite firmly the symbol of Jesus as the “new Passover lamb.” This means that in John the Passover meal was eaten in the evening of the day Jesus was crucified. With this slight variation, all of the gospels locate the crucifixion in the Passover season. When we go back into the pre-gospel writing period of Christian history, however, we discover that in the years before 70 this connection is not at all so firm. Paul, who wrote between 51 and 64, is the first New Testament writer to describe the “Last Supper.” He does so in I Corinthians 11 (ca. 54). There Paul writes: “On the night he (Jesus) was ‘betrayed,’ he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it.” Three things are of note about this first biblical reference to that final meal that was to become so important in Christian history and practice. First, there is no suggestion whatsoever in this Pauline epistle that this meal that “occurred on the night he was betrayed” was a “Passover meal.” Second, the word we have translated as “betrayed” literally means “handed over” and that is not quite the same as “betrayed.” Third, there is no hint anywhere in the entire Pauline corpus that he knew the story of Judas Iscariot and no suggestion that he was aware that the “handing over” of Jesus was done by one of the twelve. So, in the earliest layer of New Testament writing that we have there is no connection between the betrayal, the Passover meal and the crucifixion. We then are led to wonder whether this connection had not yet been made or whether Paul simply omitted this important detail. Continuing to search in the writings of Paul, however, we do discover that Jesus and the Passover lamb had been symbolically linked, probably liturgically, by Paul. In I Cor. 5:7, the apostle writes: “Christ our new paschal lamb (or Passover) has been sacrificed for us.” This verse points to the established fact that in the early days of the Christian movement, the liturgy of the synagogue was the context in which the Jesus story was told and understood. Not only had Jesus been coupled liturgically with the Passover lamb, but in other gospels sources he was also identified with the sin-bearing scapegoat and the sacrificial lamb of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Matthew’s narrative of the “Sermon on the Mount” is set against background of the observance of Shavuot, the Jewish day of Pentecost, which celebrates the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. John the Baptist in each of the synoptics appears to proclaim the message identified in the synagogue with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The story of Jesus’ transfiguration contains elements that link it to the Jewish celebration of Dedication, now called Hanukkah. It appears that the use of the symbols of the Jewish liturgical year to interpret the life of Jesus was a very early pattern. Understanding Jesus as the Passover Lamb was just one more of these. So, we ask: Did the liturgical connection between Jesus and the Passover lamb cause the story of the crucifixion of Jesus to be moved into the season of Passover or was the season of Passover actually the time in which the crucifixion occurred? My study over the years has increasingly led me to conclude that the crucifixion and the season of Passover were not originally attached historically in any way, but that the crucifixion was drawn into the orbit of that season as an interpretive device. Let me cite the data that has lead me to that conclusion. Mark, who gave us the first account of the crucifixion that we possess, says that it was the Passover that drew Jesus to Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. The dates of Passover are 14-15 Nisan, which would locate it on our calendars in late March or early April. He also says, however, that a week prior to the crucifixion Jesus rode into Jerusalem in what we call “the Palm Sunday Procession,” at which time the crowds waved “leafy branches” and shouted words from the 118th psalm, “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is the one that comes in the name of the Lord.” A week before Passover would place that procession even earlier in either March or April. If one is familiar with plant life in that part of the Middle East, one would know that there are no leaves on the branches that early in the spring. That is the first crack in suggesting that the connection between crucifixion and Passover might not be of history. Leafy branches are a strange Passover season detail. It is interesting to note what both Matthew and Luke do with this detail, since both of them had Mark in front of them when they wrote and their gospels represent both a borrowing from and an expansion of Mark. Matthew seems recognize that there is a problem with leafy branches at that time of the year, so he removes the leaves from his narrative and has the crowd only wave “branches.” It is, however, only the leaves that wave, leafless branches are just sticks. One suspects that Matthew recognized that something about the inclusion of “leafy branches” just did not quite fit and so he sought to make a clarifying adjustment. When Luke, about a decade after Matthew, wrote his account of Palm Sunday, he also seemed to sense an incongruity and he responded by omitting both the leaves and the branches. Luke rather has the crowd lay down their garments before Jesus as the procession unfolds. Even this detail, however, points to a warmer season than early spring. One is not likely in the “holy land” to shed one’s outer garments in late March or early April. There is still another story in Mark’s passion narrative that raises a similar question. After the Palm Sunday procession, Mark tells us that Jesus went to the Temple, looked around, saw the money changers and left with his disciples, going to the village of Bethany about two miles away to spend the night. The next day, Mark says, Jesus went back to Jerusalem, this time to confront the money changers in the Temple. On this return trip Mark says that Jesus was hungry and, seeing a fig tree in the distance, went to it in search of fruit. No fruit was found for this is late March or early April and no fig tree in the northern hemisphere produces fruit in the early spring. Mark acknowledged this fact by saying “it was not the season for figs!” Mark tells us, nonetheless, that the disappointed Jesus laid a curse on this fig tree for the sin of not producing figs in March! At the very least, that was an un-Jesus like act. Jesus and the disciples then continued to Jerusalem where he cleansed the Temple of those who bought and sold animals, returning to Bethany that afternoon by the same route. On the trip home, Mark says that Jesus and his disciples came to this fig tree, which by now had shriveled and died. It is a strange story that raises many questions. At the very least, if this story had been set in the fall of the year some of its strangeness would vanish. Was that then its original setting? Was it moved to the early spring at the time when the crucifixion was also moved to the early spring? Once again, it is interesting to see what Matthew and Luke do when they come to this Marcan story. Matthew collapses it into a single episode not separated by the events at the Temple. It is as if he were embarrassed and wanted to get through it as quickly as possible. Luke simply omits the story. Some suggest that he turned it into his “Parable of the Fig Tree.” Thus in both Matthew and Luke there appears to be some “dis-ease” about the time of the year in which the story of the crucifixion has been placed, which suggests that perhaps the season of Passover was not the original setting. Finally, we note that in the Jewish liturgical year, the harvest or fall festival, called Sukkoth, has some activities connected with it that the Christians clearly borrowed and moved from the fall to spring, where these details did not quite fit. At Sukkoth a procession through the streets and to the Temple was a major part of the celebration. The worshipers in that procession carried in their right hands a bunch of leafy branches made up of myrtle, willow and palm called a lulab, which they waved while marching. They also shouted the words of the 118th Psalm. This was, however, a fall harvest festival. The gospel writers clearly moved the symbols from Sukkoth in the fall and placed them, rather awkwardly, into the spring season of Passover. These are the details that have convince me that the time of the crucifixion might also have been shifted, driven by the power of the symbol of Jesus understood as the “new Passover lamb.” These connections were developed liturgically and homiletically over the years. In the first Passover, the blood of the Paschal lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts of Jewish houses on the night of the Exodus, when the angel of death swept through the land of Egypt to kill the first born male in every household. When the death angel saw the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts, the angel would “pass over” those houses as if repelled by the blood of the lamb. To the blood of the lamb was attributed death-defying power. The followers of Jesus developed that analogy by suggesting that the blood of the new paschal lamb on the cross, understood as the doorposts of the world, now repelled the power of death from the followers of Jesus. It was a powerful, symbolic story, true, but not literally or historically accurate. In it, however, we find a clue to reading the gospels non-literally, for this is the way they were written and I am convinced that this is the way they were intended to be read. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Connie and Dave, via the Internet, write: Question: At church today, the pastor read a section from the Ephesians. That got me thinking. I presume each of Paul's letters addressed as they were to individual faith groups in different cities, were saved by each group and shared occasionally within that group. Who pulled all of Paul's letters together from the individual groups and when did he do that? Answer: Dear Connie & Dave, Yours is a very good question. I need to address it in two parts. First, there are 14 epistles in the New Testament that, at some point in Christian history, have had Pauline authorship claimed for them. Only seven of them are now generally recognized as having come from the hand of Paul, who wrote approximately between the years of 51-64 CE. Those seven authentic works of Paul are: 1. I Thessalonians 5. Romans 2. Galatians 6. Philemon 3. I Corinthians 7. Philippians 4. II Corinthians This means that the following epistles are not the authentic works of Paul: 1. Colossians 5. II Timothy 2. Ephesians 6. Titus 3. II Thessalonians 7. Hebrews 4. I Timothy Of these, Colossians, Ephesians and II Thessalonians appear to have been written ten or more years after Paul’s death and perhaps by those who would have thought of themselves as Paul’s disciples and they may well reflect some Pauline insights. I and II Timothy and Titus were written more than a generation after the life of Paul had come to an end and reveal a kind of developed ecclesiastical structure that Paul never knew and they regard Paul as a revered elder statesman and not the controversial person that he most surely was. The Epistle to the Hebrews is not an epistle, but a sermon, and it could never have come from the pen of Paul in its style, its vocabulary and in its point of view. There are other things that need to be observed like the two letters to the Corinthians appear to be composites of at least four letters, certainly not two. The last chapter of Romans appears to be a new ending added to that epistle after the life of Paul and nowhere in the epistle to the Ephesians does it suggest that this letter was addressed to the church in Ephesus. Conjecture, informed but still conjecture, is that when the idea developed in the decade after Paul’s death to bind Paul’s letters into a single volume to be distributed to all the churches a cover letter was written to commend them. This cover letter was the essence of Ephesians. The first stop of this volume of letters was in Ephesus and so the cover epistle received that name. Second, basic biblical scholarship would challenge the way we talk about these epistles in church services. In my parish church, the lay readers continue to say, “A Reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians” or, “A Reading from Paul’s Letter to Timothy.“ I mutter under my breath, “He did not write it.” Maybe someday churches will bring contemporary scholarship into liturgy. Perhaps these answers to your question will help. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements ProgressiveChristianity.org wishes you and yours an enlightened and meaningful Easter! Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 3530 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Unit 1 Portland, OR 97214 Add us to your address book

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Death of Gordon Cosby
by Lynda Cock 22 Mar '13

22 Mar '13

Forrest Craver sent the message below about Gordon Cosby's death. During our time in the WDC House and during the Local Church Experiment, the Cocks, Cravers, and others were pleased to have Rev. Gordon Cosby, co-founder of the Church of the Savior in WDC, speak and be part of our House Church. This was especially significant for us because Gordon and Mary Cosby had been the influential and challenging leadership of a college CSM (Christian Student Movement) retreat that we attended back in 1960. After seminary and in an early parish, we studied the books written about the Church of the Savior, as well as the article in Time magazine about the Ecumenical Institute. We were in Virginia at another congregation when Bill Newkirk and Carl Ennis visited, urging us to recruit a PLC and then an RS-I. So we were torn between Church of Savior and EI. EI provided a place to live. Trusting the mystery and George Holcombe, Jim Addington (PLC), Marilyn Miller, and Phil Townley (RS-I for our parishioners), we made our big journey to the West Side in a blizzard during March 1969 ... 44 years ago this month. The rest is history. Journey on, Gordon (and Joseph), with deep gratitude for your combined history-changing work. Lynda Cock (and John) -----Original Message----- From: Forrest Craver [mailto:forrestecraver@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 11:34 AM To: JPC/LLC Subject: Please post this list servs Our colleague Rev. Gordon Cosby, a 4th generation Baptist minister ,died yesterday. A four decade colleague of JWM, every summer Gordon and JWM would meet at Kirkridge with Oliver Nelson to plot church renewal strategies. Gordon's obit will appear in today or tomorrow's Washington Post. His memorial service will be held at Foundry UMC in DC.

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A better connection to article on Gordon Cosby
by Janice Ulangca 22 Mar '13

22 Mar '13

http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/03/21/gordon-cosby-teaching-us-how-live-and-how-…

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The life of Gordon Cosby
by Janice Ulangca 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

It was good to hear of the encounters of the Cocks and other colleagues with Gordon Cosby. For those who have been inspired by him and/or the Church of the Savior in Washington, D.C. - here's most of an account of Gordon's last days and the story-telling gathering held last night, the night of his death. It is Rev. Jim Wallis who writes this - the founder and CEO of Sojourners (magazine and community in D.C.). Janice Ulangca Gordon Cosby taught us how to live by the gospel and, in these last years and months, he also showed us how to die. In one of my many visits near the end of his life, Gordon said to me in his deep graveling voice, "I am enjoying dying." What a gospel thing to say. From the first time I heard Gordon preach, to the last sermon he did a few years ago, I have never heard the gospel and its meaning more clearly articulated than from Gordon Cosby. Well into his 90s, and living in Christ House with the homeless men he always served, Gordon was less able to continue to do the all things he had done all day, every day, for so many people and over so many years. "All I can really do is pray now," Gordon said to me, "but I have so much time now to pray!" During a long Lenten fast a few of us undertook in 2011 to draw national attention to the vulnerability of the poor in Washington's budget debates, Gordon told me he had constructed a special "Jesus Prayer" for my fasting and prayed it 100 times a day! Knowing that Gordon Cosby was praying for me that many times each day left me with such a sense of undergirding and sustenance, even without any food, for all those weeks. His prayers literally lifted me. And when it came to fundamental questions about the vocation of Sojourners - or my own vocation - there was never anyone I wanted to talk with more than Gordon. Last night, as so many people packed into the Potter's House, the first Christian "coffeehouse" in the nation where Gordon had lunch or coffee every day with literally thousands of people; it was absolutely amazing how many people's vocations Gordon Cosby had fundamentally impacted. The stories went on and on. Transformed lives of both the poor and the affluent because of him, pastors founding churches and ministries because of him, marriages kept going because of him, communities forming and new missions starting because of him, individuals changing both their lives and the world because of him. A pastor said how disappointed he was to tell Gordon that their new little church had only 15 people to start. "Wow," replied Gordon, "Fifteen people is amazing!" Another pastor told his story of how Gordon had inspired and sustained him in forming a church for the homeless in the suburbs of Washington. "Gordon took such a genuine interest in me," he said. But looking around the room and having listened to all the other stories of just the people who had gathered quickly on the night of Gordon's death, the pastor then said, "I don't know how one person could take such a genuine interest in so many people!' Gordon Cosby never needed or wanted to be out front or become a famous public figure. He could have spoken across the country, and was often invited to do so. But he instead decided that his own vocation was to stay with a relatively small group of people trying to "be the church" in Washington, D.C.: the Church of the Savior, which has produced more missions and ministries, especially with the poor, than any church I know of anywhere in the country - even the huge mega churches who capture all the fame. He never wrote a book, went on television, talked to presidents, planted more churches, built national movements, or traveled around the world. He just inspired everybody else to do all those things and much more. And the world came to him. Last night we all gathered to tell stories about how Gordon had changed our lives: the poor and middle class; the former alcoholics and the former wealthy (both because of Jesus); clergy and ministry leaders; founders of projects that have touched the lives of thousands; activists and contemplatives; political players in Washington, D.C.; those with southern American accents and those with African accents; blacks and whites who found themselves in a church together in a city where that didn't happen in 1950, when the Church of the Savior was born. All said, in different ways, Gordon always asked them about how their "spiritual life" was going. While American churches were divided between those who stressed evangelism and those who focused on social action, the Church of the Savior spoke of "the inward and outward journey" of deepening our lives in Christ and then letting Christ take us out into the world on one creative mission after another. I was blessed to be at Gordon's bedside the night before he died and with Mary alongside him - still loving one another after 70 years of marriage. I felt like I was standing there with countless thousands of people who would want to say how much Gordon loved them and how much they loved this man of God. As one person said last night, "You knew he loved like Christ, and he made you want to love like Christ too." Gordon was suffering no pain when he died. He just made the decision to rest in peace - the peace of Christ. Thanks be to God for the life of Gordon Cosby. Jim Wallis is CEO of Sojourners. His forthcoming book, On God's Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn't Learned about Serving the Common Good, is set to release in April. You can connect to the full account at http://go.sojo.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=26783.0&dlv_id=30381

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Re: [Dialogue] ICA Zimbabwe
by Singltn＠aol.com 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

This is great, Dick. And now for the Presbyterians. Louise Louise R. Singleton, MSPH 4 Calle Aguila Santa Fe, NM 87508-5996 505-983-7077 email: singltn(a)aol.com In a message dated 3/21/2013 11:42:21 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, nj.lindblad(a)gmail.com writes: Congratulations on qualifying for Advanced Special status. Norm and Judy On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 1:29 PM, Richard Alton <_dick_alton(a)hotmail.com_ (mailto:dick_alton@hotmail.com) > wrote: Dear ICA Colleagues, ICA Zimbabwe’s HIV/AIDS project has just been chosen as an Advanced Special of the Methodist Church’s Board of Global Ministries. The Advanced Special number is 3021529. The Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS project can receive donations up to $10,000 a year for three years. A donation would come from a local Methodist Church. As most people know ICA has a long and deep relationship to the Methodist Church through Joseph Mathews and his brother, Bishop Mathews. If you belong to a Methodist Church or know someone who a Methodist, consider supporting this work The Zimbabwe project is outstanding with a massive push on testing followed by working with HIV+ people through Stanford’s Living Well with AIDS flowing into economic/social support units called Self-Help Groups. ICA Zimbabwe is planning to work with 50 villages involving 500,000 people over the next 3 years. ICA USA has a MOU to partner with ICA Zimbabwe. Help create HIV free villages where people are no longer fearful or consumed by AIDS. I have more material about the work if so desired. Dick Alton Richard H.T. Alton 166 N. Humphrey Ave, Apt, 1N Oak Park, IL 60302 T:_1.773.344.7172_ (tel:1.773.344.7172) _richard.alton(a)gmail.com_ (mailto:richard.alton@gmail.com) Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back Babe Ruth _______________________________________________ Dialogue mailing list _Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net_ (mailto:Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net) _http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net_ (http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net) _______________________________________________ Dialogue mailing list Dialogue(a)lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net

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3/21/13, Spong: A Pope is Chosen - Hopes Rise for Change
by Ellie Stock 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

HOMEPAGE MY PROFILE ESSAY ARCHIVE MESSAGE BOARDS CALENDAR A Pope is Chosen -Hopes Rise for Change His name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but the world will know him as Pope Francis I. He was a surprise selection by the Conclave of Cardinals voting in the Sistine Chapel and he received the required majority of 77 votes on the third ballot cast, a unifying fact. He is from the “Third World,” that is, he is from the southern hemisphere, where growth in adherence to the Roman Catholic faith is still being experienced, but he was not one of those third world cardinals around which rumors of a papal possibility had circulated. He is largely an outsider to Vatican affairs and to Vatican politics. That suggests, I believe and hope, that the College of Cardinals is no longer willing to place the governance of their church into the hands of those who appear to be either tolerant of or complicit in the scandals that have marked the Vatican in recent years, both in the area of finances and in the practice of morality. He is known as a champion of the poor, but he is cool to what has been called “Liberation Theology.” Nonetheless, Leonardo Boff, the Catholic theologian most identified with liberation theology, has expressed both hope and some degree of pleasure at his election. He comes to the papacy at a time when the credibility of religious institutions, in general and of the Roman Catholic Church in particular, is at an all time low. Will he be up to the challenges he faces? Only time will tell. People say of this ancient institution that the Roman Church moves by centuries not by decades, years or months. Historically that has been true. In an age of instant communications, jet travel and an interdependent world, however, that pace may be a luxury no longer available to this Church. Certainly the world has lost patience with its reticence to confront, purge and overcome the systemic abuse of children and young people the world over. I use the word “systemic” quite deliberately. Priestly abuse is not the isolated behavior of a few bad priests. It is far too deep and widespread to be dismissed on that basis. It reveals something systemically wrong, something systemically sick about the very culture that permeates this Church. This sickness expresses itself not only in the abuse, but also in the widespread ecclesiastical cover up of that abuse. The cover up is as revealing as the abuse itself and it reaches now into the highest levels of that Church’s life. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, at the invitation and with the approval of both John Paul II and Benedict XVI, was allowed to find sanctuary in the Vatican from criminal prosecution in Massachusetts. He was given a timely and propitious “promotion” to a top Vatican position, where he lives today in honor and dignity, when he should be an inmate in jail and facing the public humiliation his deeds have earned for him. As long as Bernard Law remains in this position, the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, at its very highest level, cannot pretend that it is not still engaging in a massive cover up. Prior to Benedict’s retirement, both the episodes of sex abuse and its facilitating cover up had broken into the ranks of the cardinals and these charges were actually nipping at the heels of the former Archbishop of Munich, who is now known to the world as Benedict XVI. The Cardinal of Los Angeles, Roger Mahoney, has been revealed as an active participant in deception, lies and cover up. The Archbishop of Scotland, Keith O’Brien, has resigned amid admitted acts of sexual impropriety with other priests or former priests. The Australian bishop, Geoffrey Robinson, who headed up that country’s investigation of the crimes of child abuse by Catholic clergy, was so thorough in his report that it shook the security of the Catholic hierarchy. Instead of acting on his far ranging recommendations, the hierarchy marginalized this bishop and proceeded to appoint as the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, a man so close to those scandals that Bishop Robinson resigned, saying that he could not in honesty pledge his obedience to the Vatican’s appointment. Pope Francis I will not be given the luxury of centuries of time to confront this cancer infecting every part of this Church’s life. He has only days or weeks to signal that he will move to clear up the tragedy that is killing the life of his Church. That cancer surely requires that he also look at the other vital subjects in the life of the Church: issues like the requirement of priestly celibacy, the way women are defined and treated and this Church’s stated public attitude toward gay and lesbian people, which places into a context of rank hypocrisy the widespread presence of gay men, not only in the priesthood, but in this Church’s hierarchy itself. Does the requirement of celibacy, a twelfth century addition to Christian practice, serve to invite sexually unhealthy and repressed people into the ranks of the ordained? Does that fact not mean that while the abuse issue is tragic, it should not be surprising? Do we not reap what we have sown? Does the ban on birth control and the refusal to consider women as fit candidates for ordination rise out of a misogynist fear of women that has resulted in the putdown of women through the ages? Can this Church with credibility still make a virtue out of this patriarchal sin? Does the continued attitude in this Church, expressed in the publicly stated definition of homosexual people as “deviant,” have any credibility in the world of science and medicine? Does that definition not rise out of the great anxiety that the world will someday discover that through the ages, the celibate priesthood of this Church has provided the largest closet in the developed world in which gay men could hide from both marriage and persecution? Homosexuality, we now know, is no more a choice than is skin color, gender, blue eyes or left-handedness; yet the prejudice against homosexuality, now largely gone in the secular world, continues to linger in this Church, encouraged by the condemnation that continues to emanate from the hierarchy. Dare we hope that this new knowledge might somehow permeate the structures of the Catholic Church and find expression in this new Pope? It took 400 years for the Vatican to admit that Galileo was right! In this day of instant communications waiting for centuries to address a public problem is no longer an option. The perpetuation of sexual ignorance, revealed in dated sexual prejudices, can no longer be tolerated by the thinking world. Hopes burn brightly at the beginning of every new administration, whether it be religious or political, and Cardinal Bergoglio appears to bring many things to his new position. Because prior to his election he was an outsider, he comes to this position with little baggage and thus he has the freedom to act. Because he is from outside of Europe, he brings a new inclusiveness to Catholic Christianity. Because he is a “Latino,” he represents the largest concentration of Catholic worshipers in the world today. Forty percent of all Catholics today are “Latinos.” One third of the Catholics in the United States are “Latinos.” Because he is a Jesuit, he brings to his office the Jesuit commitment to intellectual rigor and honesty. Because he has demonstrated a commitment to the poor, he brings a radical critique to the kind of capitalism that does not see or understand that a capitalism that is unfettered by human concerns and needs, will always and inevitably produce an economic system where wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few and poverty is increasingly the destiny of the masses. Political instability and revolutions are the price the world will pay for such insensitivity. In America today, for example, right wing politicians oppose with vehemence a fair taxation policy, preferring rather a policy that protects the wealthy with tax loopholes that the wealthy had the power to adopt and now refuse to surrender. They seek to balance the American deficit by cutting education, welfare and Medicare resources for the poor to frightening levels, failing to remember that the primary causes of the present deficit are two unfunded wars, which these same people chose to fight and for which they refused to pay. The deficit was then expanded by an enormous economic collapse driven by the greed of the wealthy. Because the advocates of these fiscal policies also tend to be the supporters of such social issues as opposition to equality for women, minimizing both birth control and abortion and supporting the continued oppression and injustice toward gay and lesbian people, their moral culpability is also in question. This Pope will have a choice to make. Will his commitment to the poor transcend his commitment to these outdated cultural prejudices? In a complex world, ethical decisions are not always clear and neat, and uninformed ethical decisions can never be sustained. Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Francis. Is that a hint of things to come? Francis was an iconic saint whose life embraced two distinct foci. He was, first, uncompromisingly dedicated to the poor and the oppressed. Second, he was a lover of nature. He talked of the sun, the moon, the animals and nature itself as his brothers, his sisters. Does this presage the commitment on the part of this Pope to address the issue of climate change and the incessant rape of the earth in search of more corporate profits? Will he lend his voice and his influence to the saving of this planet Earth, “our island home?” Pope Francis is not known as a theologian as was his predecessor, but as a Jesuit will he give his still considerable intellect to the modern task of rethinking the basic theological symbols through which the Christian faith presents itself to the modern world? The concepts of “Original Sin” and the fall from perfection, for example, make little sense in a world that knows that we have evolved from single cells to self-conscious humanity over billions of years? How can modern Christianity escape the religion of control, which focuses ultimately on reward, punishment and the final judgment, when we recognize human interdependence and the survival instincts that are part of our being and our biology, not part of our doing and our moral choices? The tasks confronting the Christian faith in our time are massive. We welcome this new leader on the world’s stage as a partner in addressing these issues. We remind him, however, that he will not be measured by the beauty of his words. As the Bible says, it is by the fruit it produces that the tree is judged. ~John Shelby Spong Read the essay online here. Question & Answer Daniel Giullotta, via Facebook, writes: Question: I am a big fan of your writings and books. I am curious about what you imagine will be the future of the priesthood and pastorship in churches. What is the future of the clergy? I have been wondering if my calling is to serve as a priest, but I am unsure. What advice would you give someone discerning their calling to the ordained life? Answer: Dear Dan, Thank you for your question. Let me begin my response to you by saying that I have now been ordained for 57 years and if I had a chance to live my life over again, I would do it exactly the same way. I would seek ordination once more. I have loved the things that my priestly vocation gave to me: an opportunity to be deeply involved in the personal lives of many, a significantly challenging intellectual agenda as I sought to make Christianity make sense to my time and place in history, a platform from which to speak to the issues of the world in light of my faith, a chance to help people grow from childish religious images to much more mature ones and a chance to practice daily the faith I still passionately believe. This is not to say that the next century will be easy for people in my profession. There are many reasons to suggest that institutional Christianity is dying and that this death is irreversible. I do not think the church forms of today will support the faith of tomorrow. I believe that much of what people think of as traditional Christianity today will be seen as invalid tomorrow. This includes creeds, liturgy and the way the Bible is interpreted. We live in an era of a huge paradigm shift, which, if managed adequately, makes this a very exciting time to be a both a Christian and to be in a leadership role. If this prospect scares you then I think you should seek a career in something else, but if it excites you, there is nothing more important than to be a part of this transition. I suggest you go to a pastor you admire and discuss these things with him or her as you seek to discern your future. ~John Shelby Spong Announcements Are you looking for progressive, relevant liturgy to support your evolving faith community? Click here to discover an international forum for sharing liturgy and our free liturgical resources! Any questions or concerns, please contact us at support(a)johnshelbyspong.com or 503-236-3545. Copyright © 2013 ProgressiveChristianity.org, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have a membership at our website. Our mailing address is: ProgressiveChristianity.org 3530 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Unit 1 Portland, OR 97214 Add us to your address book

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ICA Zimbabwe
by Richard Alton 21 Mar '13

21 Mar '13

Dear ICA Colleagues, ICA Zimbabwe’s HIV/AIDS project has just been chosen as an Advanced Special of the Methodist Church’s Board of Global Ministries. The Advanced Special number is 3021529. The Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS project can receive donations up to $10,000 a year for three years. A donation would come from a local Methodist Church. As most people know ICA has a long and deep relationship to the Methodist Church through Joseph Mathews and his brother, Bishop Mathews. If you belong to a Methodist Church or know someone who a Methodist, consider supporting this work The Zimbabwe project is outstanding with a massive push on testing followed by working with HIV+ people through Stanford’s Living Well with AIDS flowing into economic/social support units called Self-Help Groups. ICA Zimbabwe is planning to work with 50 villages involving 500,000 people over the next 3 years. ICA USA has a MOU to partner with ICA Zimbabwe. Help create HIV free villages where people are no longer fearful or consumed by AIDS. I have more material about the work if so desired. Dick Alton Richard H.T. Alton 166 N. Humphrey Ave, Apt, 1N Oak Park, IL 60302 T:1.773.344.7172 richard.alton(a)gmail.com Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back Babe Ruth

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