Things Cast Down are Being Raised Up

 Two days ago, there was another mass shooting in the United States.  In fact, as of writing this, there have been more mass shootings in the United States in 2022 than there have been days!  The one I am referring to was the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which killed two teachers and nineteen elementary school age children. Every time this happens, I find myself completely heartbroken.  I struggle to process it.  I don't understand the evil which infects someone's heart that makes them capable of ending another person's life, let alone the lives of multiple people, or even more unimaginably, the lives of children.  The whole thing is a testimony to sin and the brokenness of human nature.   The other testimony to sin and brokenness is the fact that, despite this being more than a daily occurrence in the United States, absolutely nothing is ever done about it!  It angers me at every level.  I also will fully disclose that I loathe guns to the core of my being.  I really

 Recently, I was researching for another post I was working on, and I came across a story that I had heard in college, but forgotten.  The story is of the village of Eyam in Derbyshire, England.  In 1665, the last major outbreak of the Black Plague occurred in England.  This small village, by the guidance of their new parish priest William Mompesson, decided to quarantine to keep the plague from spreading to their neighbors.  The outbreak lasted fourteen months, and by November of 1666, when the outbreak subsided somewhere between half to two-thirds of the villagers had died.   At the time of the plague, most nobles, including King Charles II, fled populated areas to avoid illness.  This movement, of course, at times ended up spreading the disease.  The consensus of the entire village to stay in place, sacrificing their lives was inspired by their religious devotion and care for others.  The story is an example of Christian witness in times of terror.  However, to my surprise, these ma

 I am preparing for a presentation in a couple weeks, and I started thinking about general guidelines for conversation.  None of this is based particularly on the setting or people, but on past experiences in group settings.  As I was preparing, I started seeing a theme in my guidelines - that is how important it is for people to speak in their own voice.   On many occasions, when communicating, people have a tendency to hide their own voice in one way or another.  Perhaps this is a way of avoiding confrontation out of fear or feeling that their opinion is less than adequate.  The result of it is that it obfuscates the message and makes it unclear what they are actually communicating.  On the converse, when people speak clearly in their own voice, it allows for much freer communication and openness. Below I have the guidelines for open communication.  None of these are my original thoughts, but are a compilation of ideas to help groups communicate more clearly.   Guidelines The guideli

The story of the martyrdom of St. Laurence is one that has always stuck with me.  The story goes that when Roman authorities demanded he hand over the treasures of the Church, he brought with him widows and orphans, and said, "These are the treasures of the Church".  It may seem that Laurence was being cheeky with the authorities, and perhaps he was.  The authorities thought so, and put him to a gruesome death.  But Laurence was not wrong, either.  People are the true treasures of the Church. Stock Lines I have a few stock lines that I use regularly.  One is that I am in the people business.  Another is that our people, particularly clergy, should be viewed as an asset and not a commodity.   It is important to remember this is not only true of clergy, but really anyone who is in professional ministry, from musicians to administrative staff.  However, being clergy, I most know my own profession and can speak from my profession.  It is also true that when it comes to profession

     For years, I have been seeing a meme that reads something like: "I survived another meeting that should have been an email."After a year and a half of some degree of social distancing, I would say the biggest learning for me is that meme needs to go into the dustbin.       About twenty years ago, when I first went before the COM (Commission on Ministry - the diocesan body that helps ordinands discern ministry), someone asked me, "What do you think priests do most of the week?"  I answered, "From what I can tell, it's meeting after meeting after meeting."  I got a nod of approval for that answer, and after a decade and a half of ordained ministry, oh how correct I was!     Clergy attend a lot of meetings. In fact, prior to the pandemic, I was already quite familiar with Zoom, as the Church had been using the platform for years. What better way to meet than to not have to drive for two hours to sit in a room for an hour.       I do sometimes wonder

    I recently wrote about the possibility to revisiting Morning Prayer as a principal Sunday service .  This is in part a response to the reality of many small congregations who struggle to pay clergy, as well as other factors.  Last week, the Church of England released a plan to plant 10,000 new congregations all with lay leadership.  The rationale was not only using a model from African Provinces, but also to free them from what they referred to as "Key limiting factors", meaning building costs and clergy pay.  Today, I read an article from the Church Times (also Church of England), suggesting that the Church should phase out paying clergy altogether.     Now, this is not directly related to the workings of The Episcopal Church, but it is close to home when talking about a sister province of the Anglican Communion.  I do recognize a certain reality of the costs of salaries.  I have looked at many church budgets.  I also am a proponent of looking at creative models of doin