From The Clergy

A Surprising Turn of Events

The decision by Bishop Lawrence to postpone the Diocesan Convention by a few weeks in response to actions taken by the office of the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church has naturally raised eyebrows. While the full implications of these actions are yet unknown, we can surmise a few things by reading Bishop Lawrence’s letter and trying to read between the lines.

First, the request by lawyers representing the Presiding Bishop for a great number of documents from the diocese and individual congregations raises suspicion that some yet undisclosed actions are being contemplated.

Second, the claim that The Episcopal Church in South Carolina is something other than The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina can only be viewed as either a misunderstanding, or the prelude to some adversarial action.

Third, our Bishop is rightly being wisely cautious in his response to these requests, and our task at this time is to support him prayerfully.

Fourth, we wait to see where all this leads, and meanwhile get on with the task of transforming hearts and homes (including our own, of course) through Jesus Christ.
Please pick up a copy of Bishop Lawrence’s letter, dated February 9, 2010, if you have not already done so. Go to the diocesan website and read all the articles on this issue, www.diosc.com. Our Rector and Wardens, including—of course—the Diocesan Chancellor, our own Wade Logan, will be watching events very closely and will keep us informed as the days and weeks unfold.
~ From the St. Michael’s Clergy Team

Relationships

The last weekend of January, Lynn joined me in attendance at a conference that piqued my interest when I first received some promotional materials late last summer. We went to New York City to attend the annual Trinity Institute’s 40th National Theological Conference. The topic was “Building an Ethical Economy: Theology and the Marketplace.” The featured keynote speaker was the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev’d Rowan Williams, with presentations also offered by Sir Partha Dasgupta, Professor of Economics at Cambridge, and The Rev. Dr. Kathryn Tanner, Professor of Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Most especially for my interests, the conference included the Archbishop of Burundi, The Most Rev’d Bernard Ntahoturi who was the preacher at the opening service of Holy Eucharist, was a panelist in several group discussions, and was in attendance throughout the conference with his wife Mathilde.

Overall, it was a “heady” conference, but, one dealing with a topic needful of discussion. It was also a topic that in my mind seemed devoid of the political positions and polarization that so easily seem to define so many other church issues. Of the many things said throughout the conference, one that struck me was an analogy drawn by Rowan Williams between the “economy” and “housekeeping.” He suggested that an ethical economy is one that mirrors a household where relationships between family members allow one another to flourish through loving nurture, shared wellbeing and trust. Central to this analogy is the appreciation and recognition of the mutual value of relationships that seek what is good for all. While there was much more said about this, and much more that I can say, I mention it now because of that affirmation of the value of relationships.

Lynn and I actually attended the conference because of the relationships that we have been able to establish with the people of Burundi and because of the opportunity to further those relationships with Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi and his wife Mathilde. We enjoyed multiple times of fellowship with them throughout our three days at the conference including a very special time of prayer as two couples. Following this conference, they were to have come to South Carolina at the invitation of the diocesan Anglican Communion Development Committee and Bishop Lawrence, and to have been among us here at St. Michael’s the first week of February. Unfortunately those plans had to be changed to allow an earlier return to Burundi at the behest of the president of that country.

While we were not able to welcome them to Charleston, they will be able to welcome our four February missioners of Al Zadig, Joe Nicholson, Bill Lyles and Dave Soutter on Friday, February 19th when they meet with Archbishop Ntahoturi in Burundi. His wife Mathilde is also the founder of the Rainbow Centre where they will stay, and that has served as the mission team home for every team that has visited Burundi thus far.

The Rainbow Centre was started as a medical clinic for children with AIDS, but also operates a guest house for revenue support of the clinic. The care of these children and the provision of hospitality through the guest house are and always have been about nurturing relationships and recognizing the value of our God given humanity as known and experienced through Jesus Christ.

It is that same value of relationship through Jesus that I have shared and will continue to cherish with my St. Michael’s family that has nurtured and sustained my ministry among you since the fall of 2002. It will also carry Lynn and me forward into whatever God has in store for us in the months and years to come. We know not yet what they may be, but we know that our Lord, who has called us into relationship through Jesus Christ, has also blessed us mightily through those relationships we share with you.
~ The Rev. Bob Lawrence+

Mega Missions Funfest

For a couple of decades, every three years, Anglicans and Episcopalians passionate about missions have gathered at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in April to explore ways to engage the Great Commission. About 1,000 usually attend, and this April 8-11, 2010 looks like it will be another blockbuster.

How great it would be if a delegation from St. Michael’s joined Peter Moore at this inspiring event. Plenary speakers include Baroness Caroline Cox, member of the British House of Lords, Patron of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund and a tireless advocate on behalf of the poor and marginalized. The Archbishop of Kebbi, Nigeria, will also speak. The Rector of the most dynamic Anglican church in Brazil will be there, plus many others. Worship will be led by a multi-generational team from South Carolina’s own Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church.

The challenge of Islam will be one of the themes; but you can find almost anything you want in the more than 60 workshops – one of which I will lead on Engaging as Christians in a post-modern culture. Those far more expert than I will talk on everything from “ministry among the dispossessed”, to “reaching internationals here,” “the persecuted church” and “human trafficking and God’s heart for Justice.”

I have been to about five of these amazing gatherings and each one has challenged my own heart for mission and helped me to become truly a “world Christian.” One of the best aspects of New Wineskins is that it is almost next-door: very close to Asheville, NC at a lovely conference center. It begins Thursday evening, April 8th., and ends Sunday, April 11th at noon. You may, of course, come for any part – or the whole. Trinity Seminary traditionally closes their campus and brings all students and faculty to the conference.

There is a nursery available, and the overall price is right. The registration cost is $225 per person, although long-term missionaries, seminarians, and their spouses may go for $125. Send your registration to New Wineskins Missionary Network, P.O. Box 278, Ambridge, PA 15003. Telephone: 724-266-2810, or e-mail: infor@newwineskins.org. Attendees make their own room reservations directly with Ridgecrest itself. Tel: 800-588-7222 Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM. Credit cards are accepted. Room and board are in addition to the $225 registration fee – but, hey, the food is great, and the fellowship is out of this world.

Find a brochure about New Wineskins in both Welcome Centers.

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore

Caught in the Rye

For my submission to The Messenger this fortnight I’m introducing readers to my long-time friend Jay Haug.
Jay is a Financial Advisor in Jacksonville but he also hosts a conservative talk-radio show. Our friendship goes back to his days at Williams College (Mass.) when he was deeply involved in the FOCUS ministry that I was then running.
We’ve kept in touch through the years. Like Jay, I read Catcher in my young adult years. But I had already become a
committed Christian, and so was able to see the phoniness in the phonies and the anti-phonies alike. Still, Salinger was one of my favorite writers, especially his Short Stories.
~ The Rev. Dr. Peter C. Moore

Caught in the Rye
Reflections on the life and work of J. D. Salinger

Like many children who attended boarding school in the Northeast in the 1960’s, I read and partly relished J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. In fact, an entire generation of culture-influencers read the book. Like the main character, Holden Caulfield, I experienced a “lost weekend’ or two in New York City during my late teen years. In those days, the drinking age in New York was eighteen, creating a highly specific drawing card for those who wanted to launch themselves into the adult world or simply experience a weekend on the edge. The week after I graduated from boarding school, I took a train to New York, consumed a fair number of adult beverages, and stayed up most of the night with my classmates and their dates in a room someone had procured at the Delmonico Hotel. The most adventurous part of the evening was walking a girl I did not know home and then running barefoot down Fifth Avenue in the wee hours of the morning. To think about those days is to remember the youthful longing adumbrated in The Catcher in the Rye, the rebellious feeling against society, parents and authority figures, emotions expressed similarly by Holden Caulfield. But life was moving on and so was I to college. The empty place of longing, which I eventually identified as a “God-shaped void” got filled with a life-long relationship with Jesus Christ that has only grown with the years.

When I read about J. D. Salinger’s death this week, the memories of those late teen years came flooding back. By the 1960’s American culture had changed radically since the time Catcher was written in 1951, that much of the terminology (phony) had been replaced by other words. We described each other as “jocks, dinks, clones, studs” and other monikers. Older people were “the establishment.” The “beat” generation had given way to the hippie generation. Is there a more expiration-dated Broadway musical in existence than “Hair?” And yet The Catcher in the Rye did two things that permanently enshrined it in American life.. One, it described a certain set of experiences, thoughts and feelings that were endemic to the just arrived “youth culture” and two, it became one of the first books from a teen perspective to pass the censors while containing two highly sought commodities, sex and swearing. And yet, with all its descriptions of youthful anxieties, Catcher offered no answers, no relief and no real hope. This was supposed to be “authentic” literature. For me, it was only depressing.

With J.D. Salinger, life apparently imitated art. I watched an interview this past week with a life-long employee at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania, the boarding school J. D. Salinger attended, which became the model for “Pencey Prep” in the book. “Holden Caulfield was J.D. Salinger,” the man remarked. Did Salinger experience a void too? Was it ever filled? Did he believe it could be? The rather strange and reclusive life Salinger lived for decades in Cornish, New Hampshire, replete with stories of odd-ball behavior and hostile statements toward society demonstrated an almost permanent adolescence enshrined in Salinger’s being, or so it looked to the outside world. They say people who have been to the moon have trouble living back here on earth. Salinger had experienced a literary moon-shot with The Catcher in the Rye. Writing in the New York Times this week, Charles McGrath quotes Salinger saying that he had “borne all the exploitation and loss of privacy I can possibly bear in a single lifetime.” His agent stated ironically that “Salinger had remarked that he was in this world but not of it.” The truth about J.D. Salinger was that he was captive to the fame he created. He was apparently never able to move on from a book that has now sold 65 million copies. Success became a burden. The tragedy of J.D. Salinger was that in describing the most fleeting experiences of youth in his most famous book, he created an identity he could never escape. Perhaps he found the world beyond this one at the end. Perhaps the “God-shaped void” was filled at the last. At least we can hope so.

John B. (Jay) Haug
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. 32082
904-635-8546

From the Messenger February 7 & 14, 2010

Ror-shock: Mere Anglicanism’s Wake-up Call to the Church

What do approximately 250 Anglicans from across the country and abroad talk about when they gather in a church that was established 330 years ago and now meets in perhaps the most majestic Ante-Bellum ecclesiastical structure in the South?

Sex, and this, in fact, was the theme of the 2010 Mere Anglicanism conference in South Carolina. Relocated this year from the Cathedral of St Luke and St. Paul to the larger (and better heated) St. Phillips, this annual Charleston-based conference addressed modern culture from the perspective of balanced, traditional, biblically-based Anglican theology. While Charleston this year lacked its usual sparkling weather, participants who met from January 21-23 gathered in an atmosphere that was both serious and joyful, profound and whimsical, scholarly and practical.

They were Episcopalians, Anglicans, and a smattering of those from other traditions. They met to grapple with the fact that the institution of marriage is crumbling under the weight of a sexually permissive society. Statistics show that today the number of co-habiting couples has risen 600% since the 1970’s, and that gay marriage (while still disapproved of by the majority of the population) has become legal in many states and is increasingly accepted as a legitimate alternative lifestyle by mainline Protestant churches, including, of course, The Episcopal Church.

We heard Paul McHugh, Director of the Bloomberg School of Public Health and Professor of Psychiatry at John’s Hopkins University, speak of the failure of objective scientific research to find any genetic causation for homosexual orientation. However, when asked if his learned paper might find its way into the American Journal of Psychiatry, he smiled and said “no” – largely because, as he explained, we’ve become such victims of the “politics of deviance” that objective scholarship is brushed aside in favor of what is deemed to be politically correct.

Robert Gagnon, New Testament scholar and author of The Bible and Homosexual Practice, the most comprehensive book on this subject, carefully refuted the often-heard argument that St. Paul only condemned exploitative or pederastic homosexual behavior in Romans chapter 1 because he knew nothing of homosexual orientation or partnerships among peers. Gagnon conclusively showed that both were well- known in ancient Greece and Rome, and -- while tolerated -- were often condemned even by pagan writers.

His colleague and fellow New Testament professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Edith Humphrey, a recent convert to the Orthodox Chruch in America, deftly unpacked the writings of three theologians and took them to task for their bizarre views -- Carter Heyward, Sarah Coakley, and Eugene F. Rogers, Jr.. In the case of Rogers, Humphrey showed how his attempts to link human sexuality with the relations between Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the Godhead would have made a drunken sailor blush. Humphrey also had some telling words to say about best-selling popular author William P. Young whose allegory The Shack seems to regard gender as having a permanent part of the Godhead, and who apparently thinks that God is somehow “submitted to human beings.”

One of the Conference’s annual visitors is Michael Nazir-Ali, recently retired bishop of Rochester (UK) and a Member of the British House of Lords. Nazir-Ali, whose Pakistani roots are Muslim. He cited the distinguished Yale Scholar Lamin Sanneh, a convert from Islam, who argues that the Bible, in contrast to the Koran, has an innate “translatability”, and therefore impels believers to shape their own cultures. The Bible’s very plasticity invites engagement
with each new culture rather
than retreat.

Continuing the theme of homosexuality, Mario Bergner, an Anglican priest and former college drama teacher, described his journey out of the gay lifestyle, and into a satisfying marriage that has produced five children. Speaking of how internet porn presents a totally new challenge to Christians, he confessed that he has a lock on his own computer monitored by his wife and others to whom he is accountable.

Lest the conference be one-sided, there were also several speakers who highlighted the importance of (heterosexual) marriage, the possibility of healing homo-erotic desires, and the need for churches to confront the divorce culture and the growing epidemic of cohabitation.

In the vanguard of this discussion were Michael and Harriet McManus, founders of Marriage Savers. Laypeople and activists, they spoke passionately about how churches must commit to better preparation of couples for marriage as a means of preventing divorce, and strengthening families. Over 200 cities and towns in the USA, thanks to their efforts, have instituted marriage covenants in which churches of all denominations bind themselves to a common marriage preparation program, including the use of older lay mentors for engaged couples. Divorce rates fall, marriage rates climb, and cohabitation decreases. John and Susan Yates of The Falls Church, VA with humor and warmth shared about the challenges of character, communication and commitment within marriage. Their talk was preceded by the surprise presence of over 25 couples who had come to new life in Christ through their early ministry in South Carolina decades ago.

Mere Anglicanism believes that “on board our storm-tossed barque there are no mere passengers, all are crew, and [therefore] a theologically educated, authentically discipled, and actively engaged crew is essential to successfully negotiating our perilous passage.” To drive home their point a variety of panels ensured that heady scholarship was earthed in everyday life.

Deans and faculty of Nashotah House and Trinity School for Ministry were in evidence, and Archbishop Robert Duncan was warmly received as he explained the vision and goals of the new Anglican Church in North America. Finally, at the closing Eucharist South Carolina bishop, Mark Lawrence, preached on how God is able to graciously remove layer upon layer of sin from our lives in order to set us free.

Conference participants went home with a conviction that the only way that Christian rejection of homosexual partnerships can be credible is if it is combined with a demonstration of the goodness of lifelong faithfulness between a man and a woman. Church members – and especially church staff and leaders – must model Grace-filled fidelity so that young people will hear the message of marital commitment and perceive the value of sexual purity.

Next year’s conference will be in honor of the Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison, retired Bishop of South Carolina, and the guiding light of this annual event.

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter C. Moore

Former Dean and President
of Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, PA
Associate for Transformational Discipleship,
St. Michael’s Church Charleston, SC

From the Messenger January 24 & 31, 2010

The Marriage Savers Are Coming

Nearly everyone wants their marriage to succeed. That’s why they make those incredible promises (“for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…etc”) before a crowd of family and friends and hope and pray for the best. But 50% of those first marriages will end in divorce – usually leaving hurt, sadness, and sometimes tragedy in their wake. Children of divorce are particularly prone to challenging educational, psychological, and emotional problems no matter how dedicated those who raise them happen to be.

From their small office in Potomac, MD Mike and Harriet McManus have been waging a tough battle against our divorce culture in an effort to save marriages, and to better prepare young couples for what lies ahead. While they are painfully aware that some marriages are beyond saving, they are dedicated to doing what they can to rescue those that don’t need to fail. Also, they reach out to stepfamilies and people recovering from divorce.

One of their projects is helping cities to develop Community Marriage Policies that do a better job of preparing couples weather the challenges of married life. In Modesto, CA, the first city to adopt such a policy, the divorce rate was cut in half. Now over 100 cities have sought to implement such policies often with dramatic results.

The McManuses, with three grown sons of their own, are passionate proponents of older couples mentoring younger ones, of the value of premarital inventories, of a spiritual foundation to marriage, and of couples determining not to divorce except for adultery or physical abuse.

Mike McManus was a journalist for many years writing a syndicated column for hundreds of newspapers across the nation. A major turn-around in his own life led him to religious journalism, and eventually, with wife Harriet, to found Marriage Savers. Their work has been reported on NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, and CBS “48 Hours”. He’s appeared on MS-NBC, Fox, BBC, CBC, Oprah, The O’Reilly Factor. TIME, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Don’t miss him as he preaches at St. Michael’s Church on January 24th at the 8:00 and 10:30 am services on the “Myths of Marriage”. He will also be interviewed by Peter Moore in the Apologetics Tool Time track at 9:20 am that Sunday in the Kinloch Room.

Byzantium Redux

What images does the word “byzantine” conjure up in your mind? “Things that are vague, complex, slightly sinister, contorted, devious, and intricate?” Most likely. But if I used this word as a noun “Byzantium” it would refer to the greatest, long-lasting, most illustrious empire ever to have existed on earth.

Yes, the Byzantine Empire, or more appropriately the Roman Empire as it existed in its Eastern expression after the fall of Rome to the barbarians in 410 AD, was a unique expression of all that Athens, Rome and Jerusalem could create together in a political and religious form. From the time Constantine moved the capital of his Empire from Rome to the new city he had helped create on the Bosporus, that small body of water that separates Europe from Asia, Byzantium was the political center and cultural inspiration of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Culturally it was indeed a mix of East and West. Deeply infused by Greek philosophy, Roman Law, and what came to be called Orthodox Christianity, Byzantium preserved the heritage of the West while fending off invaders from the East and the North with the blood of countless armies and military campaigns. In many ways it preserved for Western Europe, that had collapsed into feudalism and the Dark Ages, a concept of Christianity that could intellectually and spiritually infuse a great civilization.

Historians know not to confuse Byzantium with the so-called Holy Roman Empire that was mostly Medieval, Germanic, and located in Central Europe from the 10th to the 19th Centuries. No, Byzantium was a direct continuum with the original Roman Empire. It was ruled by a succession of Emperors, or Caesars, until its collapse before the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks in the 15th Century.

Until I recently read Lost To The West, The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth my knowledge of Byzantium was sketchy at best. I picked up the book because I had met Brownworth on a couple of occasions and because I had been told that his series of podcasts on “12 Byzantine Rulers” earned him wide acclaim. But once I started reading, I discovered that Lost To The West was more like a novel than turgid history. I found it to be racy, vibrant, colorful, journalistic, all the while covering a vast stretch of history in just over 300 pages.

While Western Europe slumbered through the Dark Ages, the light of its learning having been snuffed out by invasions, wars, plagues, endless church/state struggles, and a heavy-handed feudal structure, high culture continued to flourish for eleven hundred years in Byzantium. Byzantium was a distinctly Christian empire, centered in Constantinople, where modern Istanbul, Turkey is located at the juncture of the Aegean and the Black Seas.

Byzantium embodied a unique relationship between church and state. There are essentially four main models of church/state relations: First, theocracy, where the church controls the state. Second, Erastianism, where the state controls the church. Third, partnership, where church and state recognize and encourage each other’s distinct responsibilities (the democratic model on which the United States was founded). And, fourth, Constantinianism, where the state favors the church while the church accommodates to the state in order to retain that favor. It is this fourth model that obtained in Byzantium. For a long while after Byzantium fell, this model continued in Byzantium’s only authentic successor, Russia. There, even through the Communist period, the Orthodox church maintained the government’s begrudging favor, much to its own weakening.

In fact, one might argue that this Constantinian model was part of the main problem with Byzantium. A church that too much courts the state’s approval tends to be weakened. Therefore, while Eastern Orthodoxy today retains a great deal of the pomp, ceremony, and mystery of its ancient origins, wherever it is still considered semi-official (as it is in many Eastern European countries) it lacks vibrancy – the kind of vibrancy often seen in those branches of the church that experienced the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century, including our own Anglican branch. To their credit, the Eastern Orthodox churches have a history of faithfulness to creedal Christianity. But because of their backward focus, expressed in a certain liturgical rigidity, few of them seem to have discovered the centrality of the Word of God that alone can transform hearts and lives through the Holy Spirit.

But for sheer drama, the history of the Constantinian experiment, if we can call it that, is amazing to say the least. Art, architecture, literature, and education flourished under the Byzantine Roman Emperors. Vast buildings, monuments, statues, all adorned with precious jewels and a seemingly endless supply of gold, graced Constantinople. Generals led armies to victory and at times defeat. There were great celebrations when Byzantium had victory over its enemies. But at other times those vanquished in its far-flung cities were raped, pillaged, beheaded, impaled, and enslaved as captives. With supposedly “Christian” emperors often cruelly dispatching family members who were rival claimants to their thrones, one is left wondering whatever happened to the concept of mercy during those often brutal times. Nevertheless outwardly Byzantium was grand. At its zenith its capital city, Constantinople, with 500,000 inhabitants, was ten times the size of London or Paris.

Despite its high culture, and its Christianized populace, Byzantium could not ultimately withstand the onslaught of Islam. Since its emergence in 622 AD Islam had sought to conquer Byzantium. The armies of Mohammed made repeated attempts at conquest, with the result that portions of Byzantium fell, only to be recaptured later. Western Europe, which ought to have been its ally, was often its major problem, as the Crusades proved. Strangely, the Crusades left Byzantium weaker rather than stronger. In its final days in 1453, it appealed to the Western European powers to come to its aid. However, the breech between the Orthodox and the Latin (i.e. Roman Catholic) Church, dating from 1054, was too great and had spawned too much ill-will to be healed. Byzantium was left on its own. As Turkish canons pummeled its historic walls in May of 1453, the Muslim armies came flowing in to kill almost everything in sight. They leveled every building and monument they could. Crosses, altars, churches were desecrated and those who had sought refuge in the great basilica of Hagia Sofia were raped and slaughtered in the midst of their final Divine Liturgy. The streets of Constantinople were awash in blood.

And so one civilization was replaced by another. When I visited Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) a few years ago, I saw almost no sign of the great Christian civilization that existed there. Long ago Hagia Sofia had become a mosque, with not a shred of Christian symbolism visible to recall its ancient heritage. However, God does not leave himself without a witness, even after such a monumental destruction. The group I was with celebrated Holy Communion in the Sultan’s former royal palace, and just a few weeks ago here in Charleston Engin Yildirim, a Turkish convert to Christ from Islam, preached at St. Michael’s 6 PM service. His remarkable testimony captivated us all. Now an Anglican priest, Engin oversees several small Christian communities in Istanbul that burn with the flame of God’s love and cherish the cross that once flew high above that ancient city.

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter C. Moore

Copies of
Lars Brownworth’s
book may be obtained at the
Saints Alive bookstore

From the Messenger December 20, 27, & January 3, 2010

Epiphany 2010

This year, the annual meeting of the Epiphany Altar Guild will be held on the Feast of the Epiphany, Wednesday, January 6, 2010, at 5 p.m. This day that recalls the gifts of the Magi, celebrates the manifestation of God through Jesus Christ for all the peoples of the earth. This annual meeting will begin with an observance of this Feast Day with a service of Holy Eucharist in the church, followed by a meeting with refreshments in the Kinloch Room of the parish house. The full membership of the Epiphany Altar Guild also includes the Flower Guild and the Wedding Guild as specialized groups within.

The origins of St. Michael’s Church Altar Guild having the name “Epiphany,” and meeting during the Epiphany season of the church year, dates back to the middle 1880’s when a Women’s Auxiliary was formed that functioned in three different Guilds with different areas of interest and responsibilities. These three guilds of the Women’s Auxiliary included the Epiphany Guild which cared for the vessels and elements used in worship, the Advent Guild which cared for the mission and outreach of the parish, and the Trinity Guild, about which little is recorded in the history of St. Michael’s by George W. Williams. Long past the time or need of a Women’s Auxiliary, the Epiphany Guild remains as a group of committed Christians who give devoted hours of care and preparation for our worship.

At this year’s annual meeting, we will celebrate the leadership of Mrs. Dale Frampton who for 2009 has served as the Chair of the Epiphany Altar Guild along with the assistance of Mrs. Christen Reese. Christen will continue and be joined by Mrs. Irven Stevenson as Co-Chairs for 2010. They along with all of the other dedicated members of the Guild continue a long tradition of faithful service in assisting the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
~ The Rev. Bob Lawrence+

altarguild

From the Messenger for December 6 & 13, 2009

Advent: The Invasion of Light

The church in general throughout the world, and St. Michael’s Church in particular is about to begin the observance of the season of Advent, the first season of the annual church calendar. The word “advent” is derived from the Latin word, adventus, which means coming or arrival. The Christian season of Advent is thus one that is appropriately named to recognize that it is a season that anticipates the coming of Jesus, the Christ Child, the King of King, and Lord of Lords.

At St. Michael’s, we will also focus much of our celebration and observance of Advent around the theme, “The Invasion of Light” because it is the expectation of the light of Christ Jesus coming into the world that transformed hearts at the first celebration of the birth of Jesus, and that continues to transform hearts today.

While the rest of secular society is already caught up in the frantic rush of shopping, decorations, parties, and other distractions, the church takes pause during Advent to contemplate the wonder of God’s undeserved mercy and love in Christ Jesus. Many Christians thus approach the Advent season much as expectant parents approach the months before a child is born. There are feelings of exhilaration, uneasiness, longing, and awe as the day of arrival approaches. Just as parents do everything they can to get ready and put things into good order, God’s people can prepare themselves at home and at church for the coming of the Lord.

In our observance of Advent, our worship will be reflective of this change in the season. Our vestments and hangings will be purple. Purple was the most costly dye in ancient times and was therefore used by kings to indicate their royal status. Purple also signifies the repentance of God’s people as they patiently await the arrival of their Lord. The altar will be pushed back against the wall such that the celebrant at services of Holy Communion will be joining with the whole congregation in facing towards the cross. An Advent Wreath will be placed in the Sanctuary with additional candles lit each week to help us mark our anticipation for the full invasion of the Light of Christ remembered and celebrated at his birth on Christmas.

Our Tuesday morning services will begin a half hour earlier at 7:00 a.m. to allow for shared fellowship over a hearty breakfast. Special music will also mark this season during our Sunday worship, as well as a special not to be missed presentation from our Choir and Choirmaster, Edward Norman on December 13th. The “Invasion of Light” is coming. Join fully in this Advent season, that Christ Jesus indeed comes to you.

~ The Rev. Bob Lawrence

Try To Imagine

It’s 10:30 AM. Early morning classes are over. There’s a break in the day. Students at this relatively small Midwestern college can bask in the unusual mid November sunshine, hit one of the coffee shops in the adjacent village, or – they can go to voluntary chapel and hear a woman speaker from a seminary somewhere in Minnesota.

Hope College is not a fiercely Christian college, although it was founded by worthy members of the Dutch Reformed Church, now known as the RCA – Reformed Church in America. Like many other colleges with a denominational background, it now draws students from all branches of the Christian church, and none. It’s faculty, while largely Christian in name, includes atheists as well as believers.

Hope is located in Holland, Michigan – a small city settled very largely by Dutch immigrants of a few generations back. It has a noted tulip festival in the spring, and sports architecture reminiscent of Amsterdam. Nearby Grand Rapids is known as the hometown of Gerald Ford, Amway, and a lot of office furniture makers. It’s also the location of Zondervan, Baker, and Eerdmans – large and influential Christian publishing houses that produce many excellent books.

OK, so the profile above could well describe dozens and dozens of similar small liberal-arts colleges across the country, and notably in the South. What’s the difference?

Chapel, that’s the difference. It’s Friday, and Sandra and I are visiting our son, David, who is a senior. The chapel is packed with 1100 students who are there simply because they want to be. That’s roughly 1 out of every 3 students at this college. Chapel is Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then again Sunday night. It’s packed on each of those occasions – standing room only.

A praise band belts away some vigorous contemporary Christian music. A student from Africa then leads the congregation through the pronunciation of a praise song in Swahili. Music fills the air. Some guys sit together, as do gals – but many sit co-ed (especially those who are dating). People respectfully listen as Scripture is read and expounded upon. Today’s passage is on Joseph, and the speaker draws out some remarkable lessons about Joseph’s dysfunctional family and God’s redemptive way of guiding him through to wholeness. No Christian jargon, no pat answers, just thoughtful exposition and application. There is a quick prayer, and we’re out. It’s 25 minutes of reverence, God-centered worship, and reflection on the really important things in life.

What we are seeing is middle class, middle income, middle America – and the fruit of those values that underlie our nation’s strength. It is light years from the scene on most similar colleges and universities that dot the countryside and grace our coastal cities.

But Hope hasn’t always been a hotbed of spirituality – and it’s likely that not all of the students are there for distinctly religious reasons. It is, after all, a social occasion and a chance to meet. But, hey, making allowances for that, it is still a remarkable display.

A generation or two ago Hope’s chapel languished as do most college chapels today, attended by only a handful of faithful students willing to brave the chilling breezes of secularity. Hope decided to put its money where it’s mouth was. It would beef up the chapel, bring in a Dean of the Chapel who could really inspire students, and underwrite a dynamic religious activities program. Aimed at engagement and relevance, the program is distinct from Hope’s religion department that is decidedly academic and spans the liberal/conservative spectrum. Chapel involves contemporary music, relevant talks, brief to the point prayers, and promotes lots of opportunities for mission trips during spring break as well as local service opportunities. We saw the fruit of that decision.

No one was there to check if daughter X or son Y was “going to chapel.” No parent (other than Sandra and me) was anywhere in sight. But these students who text and twitter and update their facebook page regularly were being drawn to a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ in a gothic chapel replete with pews and stained glass. Their spiritual search may be somewhat different than ours; but who said this generation was irreligious?

-- The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore

Guest Preacher on Dec. 6 at the 6:00 pm Service:

The Rev. Engin Yildirim

We are blessed with hearing the testimony of The Rev. Engin Yildirim. Engin is a Turkish native who grew up a Muslim. In 1987, he became a Christian and went into the ordained Christian ministry in Turkey. He began as a pastor in a Vineyard Church and later in a Presbyterian Church. After studying at Wycliffe College in Toronto, he was ordained as an Anglican Priest in January 2008. He was the first Turkish Anglican priest since 1850.

Engin is married to Mine, and they have one son, Yeshua. He is also a practicing accountant in Istanbul, Turkey.

From the Messenger November 8 & 15, 2009

Family Reunion: The Agony and the Ecstasy

Sandra and I slipped off to central Connecticut over the weekend of October 23rd to be part of a family reunion – a once every 25 year event on my side of the family. We met on the campus of Wesleyan University from which a number of cousins had graduated, with people arriving from Los Angeles, Ojai, Seattle, Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Buffalo, Charleston, Grand Rapids, Fairfield County (CT), and Brooklyn!

New England in late October provided the expected contrasts: rain (sometimes drenching) one day, brilliant sunshine another; warmth and chill. We ate, drank wine from a vineyard named for the family, tore around in a multi-generational scavenger hunt, and got caught up after years of not seeing much of each other.

Inevitably the usual questions were asked sotto voce: Who’s gotten divorced? Who’s HIV positive? Who’s portfolio’s tubed? Who’s got serious cancer? Who’s not speaking to their children (and vice versa)? Who’s lost their job? Who chose not to come and why? Gossip flies around at such gatherings, and ever so discretely the dirty linen of years gets hung out to dry.

But that’s only part of the story. There were warm hugs, smiles, lots of laughter, brushing up on names long forgotten, babies to welcome into the family, photo shoots to be had, and humorous stories of the past to be rehearsed.

It all crescendoed in a memorial service Sunday morning in the college chapel. All the 20th Century relatives who had died were remembered with a few poignant words, as cousins stood up and spoke about their closest of kin. There were a few tears shed; we sang the newer version of the Navy hymn plus Amazing Grace; we prayed; and I got to say a few words about despair and hope, futility and glory based on Romans 8:18-25. What a joy to share the Gospel with relatives, who one sees so very rarely.

We sped off in our rented cars with promises to stay better in touch. But the likelihood is that we’ll all next meet at a family funeral – or two or three. Sic transit gloria mundi. (go ahead and Google it)

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore

From the Messenger October 25 & November 1, 2009

Meet Jay Crouse…

How does a asset manager with an M.B.A., an art dealer, and husband and father of four grown boys become the leader of the only Episcopal Men’s Ministry in the country? I interviewed Jay Crouse on his recent visit to Charleston. He was here to speak with about 15 priests and lay leaders from St. Michael’s, St. Phillips, and the Cathedral, and I asked him just that question.

As a young married man in Atlanta (Jay is originally from Ohio) he told me how he drifted into a church where a group of men surrounded him and “poured their lives into him.” He had never experienced that Christian mentoring before; but it spoke to a deep need in his life. Later, when he and his wife Laura moved to Sarasota they found the Church of the Redeemer and began to look around at the many other men just like himself. Who would reach out to them? Could the Church do more for men than turn them into ushers and parish treasurers? An idea was born.

In 1999 with the strong vision and leadership of his then bishop John Lipscomb, Jay left the world of finance and art and became a full-time Episcopal lay leader devoted to starting men’s ministries: first at Redeemer, where it took off, and then throughout the 78 parishes in the Diocese. Today 50 of those churches have men’s ministries, and the movement has spilled over to other denominations. As director now of Episcopal Men’s Ministries (based in the Diocese of S.W. Florida) Jay and his leadership team are busy coaching area churches in how to develop and sustain a ministry to men in their congregations through a comprehensive process called “A Journey in Disciple Making.” Their vision and goal is to equip Christian men to go out 2 by 2 into the mission field of S.W. Florida to disciple 100,000 new men of faith by 2019. “A big, holy, audacious goal” he admits. But “we are on our way.”

I asked Jay what he thought the needs of men today were. “They need to meet someone who is consistent, transparent, creative, persevering, and who really follows his Lord.” Not programs? I asked. “No, they need to see reality incarnated in other men who will equip them spiritually to make a difference.” Most men, Jay believes, do not think this faith journey is do-able, or learnable. It’s just for women, and men can’t be themselves. “Who wants to become a Mr. Rogers?” Jay asks. “But that “really nice guy” vision of manhood is what’s so often projected in churches.”

Having just returned from a 9-month sabbatical that took him to the Holy Land and to the four corners of the USA and Canada, Jay speaks of having had an “epiphany.” “I’m totally convinced that Jesus Christ, during his 32 years of life and ministry on earth, really had fun. It was not all work, hell and brimstone.” Jay exudes life and joy, and managed to ignite new vision amongst some key men from our three downtown churches to try to find a way for Charleston men to re-discover that to be a man “in Christ” is, in the end, to be a real man.

Jay is living proof that a layman, fired up with a deep desire to meet a crying need amongst a declining breed (men really involved in and committed to Christ, their families and their churches) can do amazing things.

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore, St. Michael’s Church

As St. Michael’s continues to live more fully into its mission to transform hearts through Jesus Christ, one of the ways that we have long been doing this heart transformation is through the ministry training that is offered for those who are called to a ministry of healing prayer. The last Sunday of September, St. Michael’s commissioned eleven new Healing Prayer Ministers. They joined a group of over eighty existing Prayer Ministers. Their commissioning was the culmination of the completion of the basic course of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician and Level I of the School of Healing Prayer. Additionally, these people have all had practical experience both offering and receiving prayer for and with one another and other experienced prayer mentors. All together, each had committed themselves to almost one hundred hours of both academic and practical preparation prior to being entrusted to be commissioned as a St. Michael’s Healing Prayer Minister. In this ministry, they now offer themselves to be available to hear the prayer concerns of those who come for prayers during any of our worship services, including our Thursday noon Healing Service. Additionally, they serve as Healing Prayer Ministers at our regularly scheduled Days of Healing Prayer four times a year. They also offer their ministry quarterly for Staff Days of Prayer as well as at special evenings for prayer during Alpha. Through their active involvement in other areas of St. Michael’s Church, their prayer ministry is also infused throughout much of the staff, the present Vestry, and virtually all other ministries in the church.

While this ministry is a calling with a significant commitment to preparation, it is also one that needs the affirmation of that calling from the church. The initial level of preparatory work is one that helps to provide that opportunity for further discernment and affirmation. It is also one that I encourage and heartily recommend for all as a heart transformation opportunity to know and love more fully our Lord Jesus Christ as the healer and great physician. Starting on Monday evening, October 19th, the basic course of the Order of St. Luke will be offered and facilitated by Jean and Johnnie Corbett. Because this course is a basic bible study on almost all of the healing miracles of Jesus, it is used at St. Michael’s as the first step toward further instruction for both the Healing Prayer Ministry and the Stephen Ministry. It is a wonderful course with incredibly gifted facilitators that also allows an amazing life group experience among your fellow participants. For all that are interested, please know that applications are available from either me or Gretchen Sosnowski. They must also be received by October 12th so that course materials can be ordered. If you have further questions about the Order of St. Luke of any of the other heart transformation prayer ministries of St. Michael’s, please know I welcome you interests.
~ Bob Lawrence+

Terror and Transformation by the Rev. Dr. Peter C. Moore

It’s not every day you read a book written by a cold-blooded killer. But I picked up this one on an August evening near Fort Fisher, North Carolina and couldn’t put it down. You won’t either if you get your hands on it.

In honor of the victims of 9/11/2001 I’m writing to share with you my impressions of The Blood of Lambs by Kamal Saleem with Lynn Vincent. The subtitle of this amazingly readable page-turner is: “A Former Terrorist’s Memoir of Death and Redemption.” Yes, it’s available at Saints Alive Bookstore, and if you are curious about what it takes to make a radical Muslim who wants to kill, maim, plot destruction, and undermine the values of every democratic nation on earth, then you will get this book.

Well, with that introduction, I’d better tell you a bit about Kamal Saleem, although some in Charleston may remember when he came through South Carolina telling his story some years back. Today he lives under an assumed name, moves around to a variety of unknown places, raises a Christian family, and keeps a cool eye out for those eager to kill him as a traitor and apostate.

The Blood of Lambs is a story both of a remarkable Christian conversion, and of the making and deployment of a jihadist – someone committed to the triumph of Islam and the destruction of Christianity.

It begins as a young Kamal seeks protection in a Beirut mosque from a couple of gangs of tough kids who beat him up every day on his way to school. The mosque belongs to a group of Sunnis who are members of the much feared Muslim Brotherhood, a radical group that recruits and deploys juhadists (among other things). His fanatically jihadist mother’s teaching, his father’s brutality and now the protection of a group of vicious Islamists send him off to a training camp where he learns to fight for Palestine and the glory of Allah.

Soon Kamal is raised up as a leader, disguised as Bedouin, and sent on missions to kill Jews. Troubled as he realizes he is being trained to become a suicide bomber, he nevertheless pursues his career under the guidance of his ruthless mentors.

Kamal’s training continues through tours in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Eventually, in 1981 he is deployed to America – well financed, sporting fancy clothes and consorting with accommodating French girls. I won’t steal much more of his story that includes an automobile accident, a stint in a hospital, recovery in the home of some loving Christians, and despite his deep disgust at their gushy love, conversion.

In many ways Kamal Saleem’s troubles have only now just begun. But you must read this book to get the full picture of a young man who is recruited to destroy our way of life and to mock, maim and kill the followers of Christ. He could easily have been in one of those planes that attacked our country on 9/11.

This is testimony that God can convert the most radical opponent of our faith through the power of the Gospel. Surprised? Have we forgotten Saul of Tarsus? You will be caught up in his sensitive portrayal of the path that took him from relative poverty in Beirut to affluence and influence among the most radical Muslims and eventually to America where he infiltrates our society, bent on bringing it down. This will open your eyes to the vulnerability of our way of life. How sad that even in America his book cannot be written with his own name on it. But that very fact underscores the fear and complicity of our own media in muzzling testimonies like his own.

But I’ve told you too much. Get this book, read it and pass it on. I’m sending it to a Palestinian American friend of mine who has come to Christ but who has still not told his own father that he has been baptized.
~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore

From the Messenger September 13 & 20, 2009

Innocents Abroad

Whenever I encounter the Two Thirds World, of which the Southern Arabian Peninsula country of Yemen is clearly a part, I am aware of the blessings that we in the developed world take for granted. On the surface these include plentiful water, clean air, roads clear of garbage, food that suits our palates, people who obey driving rules (most of the time), and -- despite 9/11 -- a world relatively free of terrorism and revolt.

The trip that my son David and I took in July opened our eyes to a world in which few, if any, of these realities are present. From July 10th to the 18th, we traveled through the central and western parts of Yemen with Caleb Hudson*, a young American man in his late 20’s, who seeks to let the light of Christ shine through his life and words. Here at St. Michael’s, we pray for him monthly as we remember him among others who work and live overseas.

Caleb organized Vision Yemen, his first expedition, so that supporters and friends could see first-hand the Arab world reflected in this very traditional, poor country, where women are totally veiled, and men wear the equivalent of skirts and a variety of scarved headgear.

In contrast to our North American culture that has long wrestled with the claims of Christ, even though much of our country is far from Christian, one immediately notices the lack of many advantages that flow from that faith tradition. For example, we have good health care, and we respect the dignity and equality of women. Our brothers and sisters in a place like Yemen, do not enjoy these and other fruits of this Christian heritage. Consequently I noticed a pervasive sense of darkness that seemed to infect the whole of life. For centuries, this country has had no public Christian witness, and it shows. You see it reflected in a poor work ethic, in the wide prevalence of numbing addictions, in a certain joylessness in people’s faces, in an irrational hatred one sometimes encounters towards Jews and Christians, and sometimes in deep misunderstandings about the West.

Nevertheless, our journey was full of drama and excitement. It included snorkeling in a marvelous coral reef in the Red Sea, hiking in craggy mountains, and bargaining with shopkeepers in capital city Sana’a’s souk. These experiences opened our eyes to Yemeni people who were warm, friendly, and welcoming. Some tried to persuade us of the glories of Islam, while at least one – a bright teacher of Arabic – is eagerly reading an Arabic Bible he’s been given and seems hungry to know our Lord.

In addition to my son and I, Caleb’s “boss”, who is a former student of mine, was along. Also, one of Caleb’s graduate student friends from Oxford joined us. Five guys, pictured above with our mountain guide, braved the intense heat, the diesel-infused atmosphere, the endless series of heavily armed check points on the highways, the bleary-eyed men chewing QAT and the ever-invisible Yemeni women, hidden beneath black dresses that cover everything but the eyes.

Only three weeks before we arrived six, foreigners had been kidnapped. The bodies of three women – health workers from Germany and Holland – had been found. The fate of the other three is unknown. We met several of their colleagues when we joined other people from overseas for worship on Friday morning. In fact, it was an enormous privilege for me to be invited to preach to this stalwart group of faithful believers – two of whom had lectured us on Yemeni culture and history earlier in the week.

We were reminded that God has not left himself without witness in this world, even in some of the most unlikely places like the ones we visited. We were more than ever committed to praying for Caleb and his fellow workers, and for this remarkable country that is usually off our radar screens but is nonetheless teeming with life.

~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Moore

*Caleb Hudson is a fictitious name, created for this article. However, we hear his actual name in our intercessions on the last Sunday of each month here at St. Michael’s. Listen for it. We cannot name actual names in articles like this – for their own safety should this article fall into the wrong hands.

From the Messenger July 19 & 26, 2009

What’s Happening at General Convention?
Today, July 14, is the beginning of the 7th day of this 10 day convention. What has happened so far? Resolutions have been sent to appropriate committees, and “hearings” have been held. In the House of Deputies, these hearings have been well planned and controlled, so that the appropriate wording of the resolution will say what the “liberal” leadership wants it to say. I have participated in 15 General Conventions. Sadly, this is the way the Convention has worked out for the last 20 years.

There are two very troublesome things that have happened at this Conventions, so far. (1) Resolution D025 has been passed by the House of Deputies, with a large majority. D025 gives permission for each diocese and parish to make their own decision about ordaining persons who are actively engaged in a homosexual lifestyle. This effectively bypasses and ignores Resolution B033 which was passed at the Convention in 2006. B033 called for restraint in this matter in all dioceses and parishes. This is sad, but not surprising, since the presiding bishop told us ahead of time at a press conference that she would do this. Word has just been received today that the House of Bishops approved Resolution d025 by a vote of 99 for and 45 against. They made slight changes in the wording, but that will be worked out easily by the “liberal” leadership in a joint committee meeting. My response to this action is that those who follow this approach ignore the teaching of Holy Scripture, and the Faith and Order of the Church for 2,000 years. (2) There is another troubling development a this Convention. In her opening address the Presiding Bishop identified what she thinks is the “great Western heresy.” She said that here in Western civilization people believe that individuals can be saved through their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of heaven and earth. She says that each time a person says the Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed, they are stating this “heresy.” In saying this, she is denying the teaching of Holy Scripture, and the Faith and Order of the Church through the world for 2,000 years.

What issues are still to be dealt with at the convention? (a) Will this Convention approve and support the Anglican Covenant with is proposed for all the provinces of the Anglican Communion? The purpose of this proposed Covenant is to hold all of the Provinces accountable to each other and to prevent one Province from making decisions that deny Scripture and the Faith and the Order of the Church. (b) Proposed changes to the canons of the Episcopal Church that would enable the “liberal” leadership to take even more heavy handed actions to depose clergy and take church property. We are blessed that our Diocesan Chancellor, Wade Logan, is a Deputy and will make a report on the Convention here at St. Michaels on Sunday, July 19 at 9:20 a.m. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I urge you to PRAY FOR THE CHURCH! ~ Bishop Alex Dickson

The Messenger July 5 & 12, 2009

General Convention 2009
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church meets every three years. It will meet this year in Anaheim, California July 8–17. The General Convention is the legislative convention for the Episcopal Church. All Episcopal Bishops have a seat in the House of Bishops. Each Diocese elects and sends four priests and four lay persons to serve in the House of Deputies.

Many resolutions will be presented from bishops, deputies and dioceses on a wide range of issues. These resolutions are referred to the appropriate legislative committee for consideration. When approved by the committee, or amended they are then sent to the appropriate House.

There are two issues before the Convention that are of primary importance. The first issue is the proposed repeal of Resolution B003 which was passed at the Convention in 2006. B003 called for the dioceses to exercise restraint in electing as a Bishop any person who was actively engaged in a homosexual life style. However, Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori stated at a pre-convention press conference that she did not believe the Convention would repeal Resolution B003 (2006), but rather should pass a resolution which expresses the mind of the Convention now in 2009. She stated that she feels it should be a positive statement to include all people. What this means is that this Convention will simply ignore what was passed in 2006, and proceed without restraints. If this is what the Convention passes, then it will seriously complicate relationships with the orthodox provinces of the Anglican Communion, and cause a wider fracture in the Communion.

The second issue of primary importance is the approval of the Anglican Covenant which is proposed for all the Provinces of the Anglican Communion. The essence of this proposed Anglican Covenant is to hold all of the Provinces accountable to each other, with the understanding that no Province would take any action that would conflict with the historic faith and practice of the Church The Episcopal Church has been very reluctant to agree to this Covenant. If the Episcopal Church does not agree to the proposed Anglican Covenant, then this will cause a wider fracture in the Communion.
Brothers and sisters in Christ pray for the Church.
~ Bishop Alex Dickson

The Messenger from June 21 & 28, 2009

Janie’s Preaching Experience at St. Michael’s
Have you ever spent a day pondering the biblical truth “God so loved the world that HE gave;” especially in an historical setting where no African American female has ever been? Nicodemus, being “dissected” during his period of time one night with Jesus, did! Or have you ever been in a place where history far outweighs any and all modern day realities. Well I was! On Sunday, June 7, 2009, I was preaching, or better still, being “dissected” in a section of Charleston, aptly named the “Four Corners of Law”, located on Meeting and Broad Streets, more specifically at St. Michael’s Church. This took place from a “very picturesque, very high pulpit,” an equally aesthetic lectern, in a class of “tiny” St. Michaelites and from a box with a music stand in the midst of the center aisle, next to the previously mentioned magnificent structures.

I am proud to say, I survived, and was pleasantly surprised and truly enjoyed the different flavor that each service offered. Nervousness was not part of my Sunday experience, but I was nervous, having to rehearse the message, as well as be critiqued by Al Zadig and my husband, Brother Dallas, on the day before, in the Rector’s office. What was even more surprising was the reception that I received from the lifelong parishioners of St. Michael’s Church. I made a couple of references to Bob Lawrence, which I hope weren’t taken out of context, for I have the greatest respect for the Rev. Lawrence and his prowess. I was “poking” fun at the seriousness of the day.

Thank you for allowing me to receive the benefits of a “God-sent” day… I thank Libby and the St. Michael’s family for sharing Al Zadig with Brother Dallas and me during this transitional and very interesting time of “dissecting”. His energy and zeal for the Lord is contagious. I will never forget that day as it was historical for me as well.
~ Rev. Janie Wilson

The Pink Bus (Myth, Legend, or Reality)
We often ponder the alternatives to the implementation of “true” biblical-based ministry – is it internal exegesis of scripture, topical narration and study of soteriological apologetics or is it external evangelism and the witness of door to door confrontation. Does it matter who my mother and father are or where I attend school? No, but, it does matter what you do with your life, and who you’ve been an example of truth to. And most importantly, “whose you are.”
And the big Pink Bus, with its Peptol Bismol hue and melodious sounds coming from the interior of the bus is the only thing that matters. It is what stands between 26 little 1st and 2nd graders having a wonderful summer learning about our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ during our inaugural “Journey Through Biblical Essentials.”

The Pink Bus will represent an imposing, almost frightening, vehicle to the masculine east side Community, its violent streets and ultra violent drug dealers, its insensitivity to the needs of its old and very young, and its women. This Pink Bus is a significant part of the “Big Pink Bus Ministry” mystique and the answer to the transportation needs of a community. The “Big Pink Bus Ministry” will enable children to negotiate a system that has offered nothing but failure and disappointment. But we say, because of the “Pink Bus”, and what the staff and board have prayed constantly concerning, failure will be a thing of the past.

Join us in this outreach effort that will enable children to recognize that someone is endeavoring to establish an atmosphere where they will have an opportunity to improve their spiritual, academic and cognitive skills. The “Pink Bus Ministry” will assist these 1st and 2nd graders in overcoming the obstacles inherent in addressing social deprivation, low commitment to schools, academic failure, and begin to recognize the opportunities that will be offered to them in making positive choices. ~ The Rev. Dallas Wilson

Biblical Essentials

The “Pink Bus” Ministry
There is genuine excitement at St. Michael’s about being allowed to sponsor one of the 26 little girls that will be a regular rider on the Pink Bus, not only this summer but all fall! St. John’s Chapel is taking the lead in planning and creating this opportunity for these 26 young ladies. The task is not small and the need is so great.

For eight weeks this summer and for all the fall, life and living experiences will change for these girls. If change does not enter into the equation, you will keep getting the same (undesirable) result!

Our part is to reach into our collective pockets and to help pay for this ministry. Each sponsorship is $1,500, not only for the eight weeks of the summer but also for the entire fall schedule as well. We may participate as individuals or as affinity groups. (I am participating, in small amounts, in three groups—in each of my two study groups and as a member of the Waring Family collective…go figure). The point is, get busy and get with somebody. This is a great ministry right in our own back yard.

Some have wondered how the money is allocated to be spent. Please understand, this is a long time to care for, entertain, and minister to a child. The total budget for this life changing ministry is just north of $75,000. The portion that we hope to raise from St. Michael’s Church members is $39,000 ($1,500 times 26 girls). That Pink Bus is going to be one of the cornerstones. Not only will the bus be used during the school year to bring the girls home safely from school, it will be a central part of the summer camp. Trips are planned to various sites across the state in the pink bus and, the pièce de résistance, a bus trip to Orlando to visit the Holy Land and Sea World!

We have attempted to break down the expenditures of the camp in graph form. All of the expenditures will be overseen by the Diocese of South Carolina. St. John’s Chapel is still in its organizational stage and all of its financial matters are handled by the diocese. This is such a wonderful ministry. Let’s all get behind it and make it happen.
~ Ken Coker, Adminstration

chart

Reflections on the Diocesan Leadership Forum
Shifting Gears
When was the last time you shifted gears? I don’t mean put that little lever from park into reverse – I mean really shifted from first, to second, to third, and then overdrive? It’s exhilarating. But most of us have lost the touch. Our modern vehicles are hardwired for the smooth flow: no jerks, lulls, grinds or thrusts, just an effortless transition from still to speed.

We think we want a life like that. Our models are Buick’s Dynaflow, Packard’s Ultramatic, Chevy’s Powerglide, Chrysler’s PowerFlite, and Ford’s Cruise-o-matic – all of which made their debuts in the 1950s. Since then, other than sports car drivers, and hardy throw-backs, we’ve all gone automatic.

So we all thought until a group of St. Michael’s staff and lay leaders went to Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort for the Diocese of South Carolina’s annual Leadership Forum earlier this month – a two-day marathon in early June of speakers, panels and table discussion. The topic? You guessed it: Shifting.

The spark plug for this mixture of hilarity and serious church-think was Southern Baptist Reggie McNeal, author of half a dozen books on how to turn churches from maintenance factories to missional communities. Apologizing for coming “only” from Columbia (SC) and not some more exotic origin, he proceeded to entertain, jab, poke fun at, and teach the 200 registrants with the aplomb of a stand-up comic and the wisdom of a serious theologian. Laughter abounded as he talked about his own “tribe” (i.e. the Baptists): “In my Upstate New York Baptist church the worship times were chiseled in stone, and the pastor’s name was in a Velcro stick-on.”

The shift that churches need to make today is from the “What?” (i.e. buildings, programs, budgets, etc.) to the “Who?” (i.e. people). He pointed out that “even at Willow Creek,” the famous megachurch outside of Chicago, “25% of the people were thinking about leaving the church.” The real “score card” of any church is not the numbers, the figures, the stats – but how many better marriages do we have? How many parents have better relationships with their kids?

Reggie McNeal’s passion is to help churches regain a kingdom focus so that they see what God sees. At one church he advised, the pastor instead of preaching a sermon told the whole congregation to go out to the coffee shops of their town and just sit quietly for ½ an hour and pray: “Lord, tell me what you see.” It revolutionized the church.

On top of Reggie McNeal’s talks there were talks by Bishop Lawrence, and Steve Wood of St. Andrew’s Church. But the heart of the Forum was a series of Think Tanks (i.e. panels) on topics like How to have Healthy Conflict and Better Decision Making in the Church; Communication, Timeless Message/Twitter Age; Spiritual Growth Takes More than a Good Program; and Making Biblical Anglicans for a Global Age. Al Zadig, Ham Smith (soon to be from St. Michael’s), Peter Moore, and Amy Smith were all panel participants at one Think Tank or another. Meanwhile Christine Meredith “manned” the Saints Alive book table, and Kit and Ken Coker played host and hostess (in their Litchfield beach house) to 7 or 8 of us, replete with late-night wine and cheese and yummy chocolate cake.

The basic challenge of the Forum was: help your church to “go missional.” This is short-hand for thinking afresh about ways to turn a church inside-out, and to go to where people are, rather than expecting them to come to us. Our job is to be kingdom people, not church people – to bless others with the Grace of God, by showing them a love that disarms and encourages. “No church will ever vote to go missional. They will always vote to go back to Egypt.” But leaders who don’t look for majority votes, but rather for “critical mass” will help lead their churches to “expectant hopefulness” where disciples are actively making other disciples, and where Pentecost is happening every day of the year.
~ Peter Moore