WordsMatter.Episcopal

WordsMatter at the UNCSW and the Episcopal Church Center

2012-02-13T08:24:00.000-06:00

The Episcopal Church Center in New York is hosting the WordsMatter Expansive Language Project as a parallel event during the United Nations Commission of Women. The workshop will offer an 90 minute overview of the project from its creation through the National Council of Churches, the Women for Justice Working Groups, and the Episcopal Church. The workshop will also teach people how to host their own conversation using the WordsMatter conversation guide.

To register email tecwordsmatter@gmail.com. Space is limited to 45 people.

Sunday Prayer: Epiphany 4B

2012-01-28T20:25:00.000-06:00

Praise God, give thanks to God with your whole heart!
Great is God's mercy, justice, and faithfulness,
now, and, for ever.

Oh God, help us to be mindful of others that we may
tend to those who are hungry with food and
those who are thirsty may have water.
Use us, Oh God, to help build up the body
of Christ, to be nourishment and
a compassionate hand to those in need.

Holy Divine One, be with those tonight who weep,
those who suffer in mind, body, or spirit,
bring them comfort, as only you can.
Bring them your peace. Turn their despair
into a glimmer of hope, a hope for hope.
In your mercy, tend to those who weep.

God of justice, guide the leaders of this
and every land to the ways of compassion,
dignity of others, and just societies.
Instill in them courage and wisdom
strength to do the right thing
courage to face into the bitterness of greed
and turn their fear or apathy or selfishness
into kindness.

God, Holy One, lead us. Today and always
into the fullness of your desire, into
the depth of grace, into the strong arms
of your mercy. Teach us to be your people.
Teach us to follow you. Teach us to be your
hands, your heart, your love, your compassion,
your mercy, in all we say and do.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Epiphany 3B

2012-01-21T18:44:00.000-06:00

In the still small voice of the rain,
in the wind of the sea, and the warmth of sun
in the deep of night and the heart of day
when we least anticipate it, God calls.

Surely God is always near, right here,
Or, over there.
Surely there are times we know not where.
But surely there are occasions when we turn
When we go regardless, and follow Jesus
Down the unsuspecting twisting road
When we walk with God
because
God walks with us.

In these moments, when we are certain we are lost
When God beckons us and then waits until we turn
To see, to feel, to know, to recognize
God with us.
When sorrow catches a glimpse of hope
When suffering is wrapped in mercy
When despair is held in grace and love
When God is God and there is peace
Peace in our hearts, for that moment
Let us pray.

Sunday Prayer: Epiphany 2B/Martin Luther King, Jr

2012-01-14T17:39:00.000-06:00

Holy God, may we hear your voice
In the stillness of night, in clatter of day
You call us, and we respond,
Here I am!
May we follow you and
May we love as you love.

Holy One, through trials and turbulence
Make us steady, your hands
Holding strong the fragile and weak
May we love as you love.

Gracious God, may the fruits of our lives
be food for the hungry, bread
clothing, shelter, fire, water, Word
May we love as you love.

God of justice, remove the barriers
Of our lives that keep us from
One another, barriers we construct
Based on skin color, religion, or gender
May we hear, and follow, graciously.
May we love as you love.

Loving God, take this day our fears our
Worries, distractions, and all
Turn them into grace and mercy,
And, following the example of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and all your Saints,
May we love as you love.

Amen

Sunday Prayer: Baptism of Jesus/Epiphany

2012-01-07T16:21:00.000-06:00

Holy and Gracious God, speaking into our lives
The voice of the LORD is glory and strength,
The voice of the Lord is holy splendor, full of majesty,
May we hear, deeply, may You sound-through us
May we be your body, hands, feet, heart
Reaching out to others may we extend your love.

Creator God, stir us, we pray
For the voice of the Lord speaks into our lives.
May the LORD bless God’s people with peace
May the LORD give strength to God’s people!
That we may care for the broken,
Hungry, needy, sick, bereaved,

Creator God, whisper to us in the silence
For you, God, called the light Day,
and the darkness You called Night.
You named all creation.
Baptized by the Spirit,
May we quietly hear you and
Gently follow. Inbreaking God
Shout us out of our illusions.

God of mercy, lead our leaders
Nations, cities, houses of worship,
Houses of people, lead all with mercy
That we, all, may be merciful as you.

God of compassion, through your Holy Spirit
Forgive us, redeem us, restore us, teach us, fill us.

Incarnate God, divine and human
Body and spirit, us and you
Baptized in the Spirit,
Ascribe to us, your compassion,
That we may be your voice, your heart, your hands
This day and every day.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Christmas I/Holy Name/New Years Day

2011-12-31T15:33:00.000-06:00

Christmas I
Gracious God,
God of light,
God of life,
God of all that is

You come to us
in the darkness
of the night
and call us by name

Give us, we pray
the grace
to hear you -
the hope
to see you -
the love
needed
to mend
a broken world.

Help us
to be your
hands -
your
heart
your hope.

Be with us, we pray
with those
who suffer,
with those
who weep,
with those
dying
this night/day
and give us, we pray
your peace.
Amen.

2011-12-03T20:49:00.000-06:00

December 3, 2011–Two Views: Djamillah
At several points during Advent you will see “Two Views” designated for the same day. One view will be posted in the morning, and the second will be posted later in the day. When you encounter these, notice how the two writers’ reflections are similar and different, and how they illuminate, contradict, or deepen each other.

Mark 13:24-37 *

Jesus tells us that no matter where we are on the food chain we need to be mindful. In this lesson there are many who have been given tasks and each are instructed to be alert at all times and to plan for the unexpected.

Do you plan your day with expectations? Do you make notes, or like me, set reminders on your smart phone? Do you alert your children that assignments are due? Whether you have a large staff of many or are the parent of a few we have expectations of our day. We juggle, plan and schedule. Yet when a friend asked if I had expectations when I went to church I can say it has taken me years to formulate an answer.

Initially I thought the question, expectations of church, was about providing and participating in ministries or living my church’s motto of “inviting, welcoming, growing and giving”. It is of course those things but I’ve come to expect it to be my place of total alertness. It is where I go for script rereads, updates and dress rehearsals. For me there can be no sleeping in the pew. I expect the Word. I expect to hear it, feel it, touch it, and to act it out. I also expect it to make me uncomfortable sometimes.

We get so disturbed when deadlines creep up but we knew they were coming. But if we are vigilant we can be ready for the Word when it comes to us. If we are alert we can sense it. See it, hear it, feel and touch it, smell it, and taste it. But it can be missed if we live our days without expectations.

Gracious God, thank you for the Word that stays the same and is renewed each time we hear it. Continue to send your Word to us no matter the day or the time. Teach us to watch and be ready. You sent the Word in flesh so that the message might lead us by example. Teach us not to sleep on the job of service, love, justice and peace. Amen.

What do you expect of church? Djamillah lists several sensory experiences as part of her expectations for interacting with the Word (hear, feel/touch, see, smell, taste, act). How might you experience the Word sensually?

Djamillah Samad is the National Executive of Church Women United, a seventy year old ecumenical movement of Christian women in the United States. She attends The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Advent in New York City where she is the congregational president.

*Scripture texts are referenced here in the NRSV. Please read the Justice for Women Working Group’s Note on the Scripture Texts Used in This Devotional.

For more information on this Advent Devotional, Expecting the Word, read its Introduction, and download the entire guide here.

Advent Week One, Day Two

2011-11-28T07:34:00.002-06:00

From the WordsMatter Advent Devotional which can be downloaded for free here: here

This reflection offered By Vicki Garvey

Advent always begins in the gloaming: We’ve been losing daylight steadily since the summer solstice, and the les- sons of 1st Advent are always a jolt. We begin not with our fine and familiar Isaiah of hummable Handel fame, but with an Isaiah whose community is girded in gloom. Each year we hear from a mature Jesus speaking of the end-times, hardly a holly, jolly, deck the halls kind of fel- low. And the Gospels of mid-Advent don’t trot out bibli- cal elves intent on upping our Christmas spirit. Instead prickly John the Baptizer confronts us, John the Baptizer who will never make it to favored Hallmark stature. It’s only on the fourth Sunday in Advent, that final Sunday before the feast toward which we incline, that we hear about impending birth—only then that the liturgy bends us toward the so-called reason for the season.

During the High Holy Days of the Jewish liturgical cal- endar, there is one service during which the end of the Torahisread,immediatelyfollowedbythereadingofits beginning. Advent does something like that for us. Begin- ning with a vision of the end of days before us courtesy of a grown-up Jesus in the full flower of his about-to-be- ended public ministry, we roll back through the stories of John the Baptizer to the very onset of Jesus’ active life and we end at the beginning on the cusp of his birth. We begin with the future and end with the past which also paradoxically leads us forward.

No human life is utterly suffused with clarity; each of us has some murkiness with which to contend. Perhaps it’s fear or bereftness – like Isaiah’s contemporaries – or loneliness or a sense of inadequacy or betrayal. Some of us get so used to our disjunctions that we build a nest there, make it paradoxically comfy because it is familiar. Advent begins in these uncomfortable places and leads us steadily to more stable ground because it knows that a sense of dis-ease pervades some of our seasons, is a place we inhabit, a reality. But Advent beckons to an- other reality, to the simplicity of the infant who will grow up to be the Light of the world. Advent calls us out of our nocturnal niches, reminds us and reaffirms that we are made of the very stuff that lights up our night sky. We are star-stuff and, according to Genesis, we are God- stuff. The Incarnation, whatever else it may have come to symbolize, means precisely that.

What do you think? Amid the stressors lurking in the frenetic forces of the season, along with the shopping and the shipping and the worry over bills, can you find the time and the courage to tend the full of radiance as the church in which you worship on Christmas Eve? I think you can. I pray you will.

Light of the world, this Advent season, lead us through the murkiness of our dis-ease and discomfort to your reality.

Is the Advent season one of “dis-ease” for you as Vicki describes it? Do you know of others for whom this might be true? What images can you find in the Advent texts or in your imagination that would help move us from places of discomfort to God’s new reality?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday Prayer: Advent 1B

2011-11-26T16:13:00.000-06:00

Let us give thanks to God, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, for all the gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

For the the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea,
Creator God, we thank you.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women, revealing the image of Emmanuel, God-with-us,
Gracious God, we thank you.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
Gracious God, we thank you.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
Gracious God, we thank you.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
Gracious God, we thank you.

Sustain the brave and the courageous and comfort those who suffer and face adversity,
Gracious God, hear our prayer.

Guide those who seek to do justice and walk humbly with you,
Gracious God, hear our prayer.

For those who have gone before us, for those who weep this night, and for the dying,
Gracious God, hear our prayer.

Above all, we give you thanks for the promise of your love, born in human form, who comes to us anew,
Gracious God, we give you thanks. Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Reign of Christ, Christ the King, Last Sunday after Pentecost

2011-11-19T16:11:00.000-06:00

Holy God, holy and gracious one
Fill us with a Spirit of Wisdom
Feed us with your justice,
Nurture us with your mercy and grace.

We pray for those who are struggling from
Famine, war, drought, and other causes of hunger,
That deplete humanity, and all the world
Of the bounty of your creation.
Help us God to fed as you do.

In thanksgiving for all the gifts of this life
May we give to those who, for whatever reason
Suffer for lack of food.

Holy God, holy and gracious one
Fill us with a Spirit of Wisdom
Feed us with your justice,
Nurture us with your mercy and grace.

Holy God, help us to see those who suffer
For want of clothing, warmth, safety, shelter,
Help us God, to care as you do.

In thanksgiving for all the gifts of this life
May we tend to those who, for whatever reason
Suffer for lack of clothing and housing.

Holy God, holy and gracious one
Fill us with a Spirit of Wisdom
Feed us with your justice,
Nurture us with your mercy and grace.

Holy God, seeker of the lost,
Help us to find you, see you, know you.

Holy God, bind up the injured,
these we carry in our hearts,
Those in need of your healing.
And, help us to be your hands,
Your compassion, your healing
Love, in all we do.

Holy God, holy and gracious one
Fill us with a Spirit of Wisdom
Feed us with your justice,
Nurture us with your mercy and grace.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Proper 28A, Pentecost 22

2011-11-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

O God of
all,
God who hears
the cries of those in need
the cries of children, hurt, abused, abandoned, robbed of innocence,
may you O God, be in those cries, and offer solace
and may we be brave. May we not hide away
and perpetuate the hurt by doing nothing.
May we be your hands that touch gently, in true compassion, mindful
Of the sweetness of a child. O God, help us.

O God of
all,
God who hears the cries of those in despair
The cries of women, abused, ignored, blamed as if they caused the hurt,
May you, O God, be in those cries and offer solace
And may we be brace. May we not hide away
Or ignore, or blame the victim, or just stand by doing nothing.
May we be your voice, speaking up for justice, mindful
That one voice will lead to two voices, to a choir. O God, help us.

O God of
all,
God who hears the silence of those who turn away,
Who bury what they have seen, who ignore what they have done,
May you, O God, be in the silence, and offer words
And may we hear deeply into our lives, your call
For us to rise, united, a people who will not stand for
Abuse, violence, harm of any one, harm of any creature
May we be your compassion, the means through which
Your care speaks into the world. O God, help us.

O God of
all,
be with those who are ill, may they find wholeness.
Be with those who weep or worry or cannot sleep
Tend to the fears, remind us that the night,
The darkness, is also the place of life, the womb,
Where love begins.

Tend to the weary, bless
The dying, soothe the afflicted.

Call us
in all we do
to rise up
in love
speak out
in compassion
to be signs of
your love
healing the
broken places
with your mercy.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: All Saints' Day

2011-11-05T13:17:00.000-05:00

Holy One, Creator of all
To You, we give thanks
For every blessing, for You
Are generous, O lover of souls.

Form within us,
Wisdom,
Sustained and nurtured by your
Holy Spirit
That we might,
have the grace to listen
deeply
and respond with compassion

May we be filled with gratitude
For every gift of life,
For family, friends,
And the Saints who have gone before us.

From those who are peacemakers,
May we learn, and follow their example
From those who are pure in heart
May we become likewise, Christ-like.

Holy One, Creator of all
To You, we give thanks
For every blessing, for You
Are generous, O lover of souls.

For those who suffer, we ask for comfort
For those who are ill, we ask for healing
For those who struggle, we ask for peace
For those who worry, we ask for guidance
For those who are anxious, we ask for solace
For those who are hungry, may we give food
For those who are homeless, may we provide shelter
For those who are poor, may we bring sustenance
For all the worries and cares of this earth,
May we be your heart and hands
May we be generous as You.

Holy One, Creator of all
To You we give thanks for every blessing,
for You are generous, O lover of all.
God of every nation, tribe, people, and language,
God of all creation, this great multitude of life
We give you thanks.

Bless us, that we may be a blessing in return.
Amen.

2011-10-31T08:54:00.002-05:00

The WordsMatter conversation guide can be found on the Episcopal Women's Caucus website here

Sunday Prayer Proper 21A

2011-09-24T16:39:00.000-05:00

God our Mother
birthing new life
through chaos

God our Father
building hope from
the dark night

God our Sister
comfort us in
times of sorrow

God our Brother
guide us through the
storms, calm water

God of the Night
brighten our dark
days, warm light

God of the Day
show us the way,
love as you

God, mystery
One in Three and
Three in One

Parent, child, friend
Comforter, Grace
Spirit, Love

Lover, One, All
Infinite One
Compassion

Sun, Moon, and Stars
Earth, Wind, and Fire
Water, Life.

In Your Image
Abide in us
We in You

In your Image
In Your image
Mystery.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Proper 20A, Pentecost 14, OT 25A

2011-09-17T18:40:00.000-05:00

Holy and Gracious God, we give you thanks for
family, friends, life, love - for
All the blessings (name blessings and thanksgivings)
you have bestowed upon us.

In Your mercy, hear our prayer, turn our whining into grace.

God of our Mothers and Fathers, your desire for
us leads the way, may we have
the ears to hear the cries of this world -
responding with Your hope.

In Your mercy, hear our prayer, turn our whining into grace.

Compassionate One, fill us with your love that we
may see deeply into all the needs
around us, (name the hurts, needs, and hope you are carrying)
help us to care with Your heart.

In Your mercy, hear our prayer, turn our whining into grace.

May Your love, Your grace, Your compassion,
Your mercy, carry us away, this day
and lead us with love
to be Your hands and heart in the world.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer: Proper 19A, Pentecost 13, OT 24A,

2011-09-10T10:56:00.002-05:00

The Litany of Reconciliation, adapted

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,
Gracious, God, Forgive.

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own, 
Gracious, God, Forgive.

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,
Gracious, God, Forgive.

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others, 
Gracious, God, Forgive.

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, 
Gracious, God, Forgive.

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children, 
Gracious, God, Forgive.

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,
Gracious, God, Forgive.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Coventry Cathedral

Sunday Prayer: Proper 18A/Pentecost 12

2011-09-03T20:12:00.000-05:00

Gracious God, who hears our prayers, whoStrengthens hearts (tho we do our best to harden them)who blesses, over and over, Be with those who suffer andBring them peace.Be with those who hunger andNourish them, as only you can.Be with those who weep andWipe away their tears.Be with this who rejoice andshare their joy.Be with us all, however weAre this day. And help usTo be your hands and heartLoving others as we love self, you.Help me to pray for all:
May I be free from danger,
May I be free from fear,
May I be healthy,
May I dwell in peace.

May you be free from danger,
May you be free from fear,
May you be healthy,
May you dwell in peace.

May all beings be free from danger,
May all beings be free from fear,
May all beings be healthy,
May all beings dwell in peace.

(Traditional Buddhist Prayer)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Some Thoughts on Compassion....

2011-08-18T08:59:00.002-05:00

From the Dalai Lama

The compassion we feel normally is biased and mixed with attachment. Genuine compassion flows towards all living beings, particularly your enemies. If I try to develop compassion towards my enemy, it may not benefit him directly, he may not even be aware of it. But it will immediately benefit me by calming my mind. On the other hand, if I dwell on how awful everything is, I immediately lose my peace of mind.

Sunday Prayer Proper 13A/Pentecost 7

2011-07-30T18:53:00.002-05:00

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To the President (of the United States - or insert proper titles for national leaders) and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in States, Cities, and Towns, give courage wisdom, and forsight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts, give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens (and all humankind, all creation), that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society (and all the world); that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.
For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.

From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, "For Sound Government", page 822. Please adapt it to fit your nation and country, particularly if you are struggling as we are in the United States.

Sunday Prayer 12/Pentecost 6

2011-07-23T20:07:00.001-05:00

Oh God, how are we to understand the tragedies
that befall your creation?
Humans inflicting pain on others -
economic pain,
emotional pain,
physical pain,
even the taking
of life.
Why all this violence?
Why so much anger?
Why?
How are we to pray?
What can we say?
We give it all to you.

To you, O God,
We incline our lives.
Giving you our silent
tears, the screams that cannot
leave our chest, the agony of
grief so deep we do not know
how to pray.
What are we to say?
We give it all to you.

With sighs too deep for words,
we give it all
to you.

Trusting in your Spirit
to do that which we
cannot.
To guide our lives
to turn our hearts
to transform this
broken world
and bring forth
healing,
as only You
can do.

We know not how to pray
but with sighs too deep
for words, Your spirit
births us whole, again.
Amen.

Interfaith Worship at Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn, Makes the News

2011-07-12T12:20:00.000-05:00

The following article appeared in the Detroit News on July 12, 2011.

Interfaith worship provides education, understanding
The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski,Gail Katz and Eide Alawan

Imagine the primary Sunday morning service in a Christian church that begins with a 9-year-old Muslim boy offering the Islamic Call to Prayer, followed by a woman lighting candles on a table set with bread, wine and grape juice and offering the Jewish prayers that begin the Sabbath worship, followed by an Episcopal priest offering the "collect of the day."

So began the interfaith service over the weekend at Christ Episcopal Church in Dearborn. Parishioners specifically requested the service after reading about the national "Faith Shared" project, organized by Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First. The challenge in planning such a service was in knowing who from the other faith traditions to invite to help organize and participate in the service.

It was a serendipitous coincidence, in which the date scheduled nationwide for the service, June 26, happened to also fall at the conclusion of the 10th anniversary of the Worldviews Seminar, so the Rev. Terri Pilarski of Christ Episcopal Church had the chance to make contacts in the interfaith world and successfully organize the service.

Co-created by Christ Church, Episcopal Relief and Development, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Islamic Center of America, the seminar provides a weeklong course on world religions.

The service included portions of Muslim, Jewish and Christian worship, honoring each tradition in the process. Beginning with each tradition's call to prayer and worship, the service included readings from and reflections on the sacred texts of the Torah and the Gospels, plus a reading from the Quran, chanted in Arabic and translated into English.

Gail Katz, co-founder of Women's Interfaith Solutions for Dialogue and Outreach in Metro Detroit and member of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, brought her family's Sabbath candlesticks, and after lighting the Shabbat candles, she blessed them in Hebrew and welcomed everyone.

Yousif Makki, a member of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, chanted the Muslim Call to Prayer, and his brother, Younes, explained the meaning of the Arabic prayer in English.

Katz also shared the "Parashah" of the week the Torah portion read that week in synagogues all over the world. Younes followed the sharing of the Torah portion with a reading from the Quran. Prayers over a meal were offered by each tradition, and the bread, wine and juice were shared among the gathered congregation.

Each component of the worship offered the comparable element from each tradition. To us, the only unusual aspect of the service was that the various elements were woven into a typical order for a Sunday morning worship service in the Episcopal Church.

Not every Jewish or Muslim worship experience would include all of these elements in one service, although they are each a component of faithful practice in the life of a Jew or Muslim.

Dearborn is a special community that honors its diversity and enjoys sincere hospitality and compassion among the people of this city. While this worship service was a first for the community, it is just one example of the many ways that Jews, Christians and Muslims work together and learn from each other, for the good of all.

Hearing each other's prayers and learning about our diverse faith traditions are ways to move forward to break down our cultural, ethnic and religious segregation, which is often far too pronounced in greater metropolitan Detroit. The more we learn about the faith-based practices of our neighbors who might dress differently, eat different foods and speak different languages, the more we find our commonality as human beings and underscore our similar missions of unity, peace, community-building and mutual understanding.

The purpose of this service, one of dozens nationwide inspired by the national Faith Shared project organized by the Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First, both based in Washington, D.C., was not to blend our diverse ways of worshipping God into one common service, nor was it an invitation to create one world religion.

Rather, it was decisively an opportunity to learn from one another and celebrate our differences as we honored our similarities.

The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski is rector of Christ Episcopal Church; Gail Katz is co-founder of WISDOM; and Eide Alawan represents the office of Interfaith Outreach of the Islamic Center of America. Email comments to letters@detnews.com.

Sunday Prayer Proper 10A/Pentecost 4

2011-07-09T20:27:00.002-05:00

For all the blessings of this life,
we give thanks to You, Creator God.
For: families, friends, colleagues,
neighbors, and strangers, who nurture
us, that the love of God may grow
within. That Your love, your Word,
like a seed, may grow to produce
in us, good fruit.

May your love, be like a seed, taking root and growing strong.

For the leaders of various nations
and cities, that they may lead with
strong hearts and gentle hands and
generous spirits, with compassion
and mercy, with wisdom and grace.
May they reflect your will guiding
all their actions and decisions.

May your love, be like a seed, taking root and growing strong.

For those who serve in harms way,
those who live in dangerous places,
those who live in areas of war and strife,
those who live in fear, those who worry
about employment, bills, food, and
struggle just to find dignity in life.
May your grace bring peace and safety
to all people, one to another.

May your love, be like a seed, taking root and growing strong.

For those who suffer from any illness,
or dis-ease - of mind, body, or spirit.
Restore these, and all those we carry
in our hearts, to fullness of health.
Health as only you, O God, can bring.
May your mercy shower each of us
with healing mercy and love.

May your love, be like a seed, taking root and growing strong.

For those who are dying, and
for those who have died. Send
forth your comforting love.
Give solace to those who mourn.
Console those who grieve.
May your grace surround us
like a mantle upon our heads
a shawl upon our shoulders
a hand, to hold our hand.

May your love, be like a seed, taking root and growing strong.
Amen.

Sunday Prayer 9A

2011-07-02T16:12:00.002-05:00

Holy and Gracious God,
we give thanks for all
the blessings of this life.
For, the degree to which we
know freedom and justice,
for the leaders of our nations
for the those who strive to
bring peace into the world,
may we know your mercy and
act with compassion.

We give thanks
for family, friends,
and those care for us.
May we know your love
in them, through them.
May those we know and
love, be safe this day,
protected from all trials,
comforted in strife,
healed in illness of
mind, body, or spirit.

We give thanks
for this earth, the various
lands we live in and on,
for water, that it may be clean
for those who need water,
for those struggling with
drought, wildfires, forest fires,
or an over abundance of water,
may they know balance and relief.

We give thanks
for food, that all may be well fed,
that those who are in need, will be
satisfied, that those who have
plenty will share, that all will
filled and nourished.

We give thank
for our health, and ask your blessing
on those who suffer for any cause.
May they be comforted.

We give thanks for the gift
of Jesus, your love in the world,
who comes to share our burdens,
that they may be light.

Amen.

World Relgions Seminar

2011-05-24T09:07:00.001-05:00

This year the Worldviews Seminar, held at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, celebrates it's 10th anniversary. Begun as a response to the tragedy of 9-11, this annual seminar honors the religious diversity of the Detroit area and the world around us.

Defining religion as "a distinctive set of beliefs, rituals, doctrines, institutions, and practices that enables the members of that tradition to establish, maintain, and celebrate a meaningful world." (Bryon Earhart, 1992)

The Worldviews Seminar embraces the notion of "the city as text." That is, we think of Metropolitan Detroit as an excellent religions-of-the-world "textbook," which we invite seminary participants to read afresh under guidance.

The seminar employs an experiential, phenomenological, interactive methodology. Seminar participants are encouraged to become "empathic visitors" who stand "imaginatively with" the various worldviews we explore during the week.

The seminar attempts to balance delivery of factual and conceptual information, exploration, conversation, and reflection.

For more information or to register click on this link: Worldview Seminar

Sunday Prayer Easter 4A

2011-05-15T01:00:00.001-05:00

Holy and Gracious God,
you call us by name,
Beloved One,
and beckon us to follow you.
May we do so through your grace.

In your Name we pray,
Hear our prayer.

Like a shepherd tending the flock
you tend to our needs.
Be present with those who
struggle, suffer, are in pain
or sorrow. Guide those who are
lost, or filled with worry and fear.
Protect those who are in harms way
heal those who are ill,
mend those who are broken,
as only your love can.

God of peace, watch over those who
lead us in our various governments
and churches, fill our leaders with
wisdom, patience, insight, and mercy.
Help them to lead with kindness and strength.

God of love, fill our hearts with
the knowledge of You that we can turn
from the distractions of life and be
more like You. May we be agents of
your compassion offering kindness
to those we meet this day.

God of all blessings, we thank you for
all the gifts of life. For your Son,
our savior, our great Good Shepherd,
the one who stands at the gate of
all life's challenges and joys,
calling out to us in love. Naming
us, Beloved.

For all this, and more we pray.
Amen.

Originally written for the RevGalBlogPals blog and A Place for Prayer by the Rev. Terri C. Pilarski

Sunday Prayer Easter 2A

2011-05-01T06:45:00.002-05:00

Sunday Prayer: Easter 2A
God of all new things, God of
Spring, and fragrant flowers, and
unexpected snow. God of hope
and new life,
Bless us, we pray,
this day.

Creator God from whom
all life springs forth
We give You thanks
Come, one and all,
Celebrate and rejoice!

Celebrate and rejoice -
The old has passed away
Everything has become new!

God of all things passing away, God
of old and yesterday,
the One
who is with us
in our despair and fear.
God who sighs and weeps, with us,
God who wipes away our tears.

Loving God, we offer up these prayers of concern this day -
for those struggling to rebuild lives
from natural disasters, especially those
recovering from the recent tornado's -
and for those recovering from human disasters
from failed economies -
also for those struggling with illness
and, from_______________ .

Hear us when we pray. Incline
your ear to our words,
silent
shouting
cries,
mournful
whispers
stunned
wordless.

Be gentle with our suffering
with our sorrows and losses,
and especially when our hard
hearts close us off to you.
Be gentle.
Be gentle.
O God, be God!

Anoint us with your touch
so that the softness of your love
can break into our hardness
and open us anew.

Anoint us, Holy One and fill
us with you loving touch.
Fill us that we can touch
in your love and fill
others. Fill us gently.
Fill us.

Living God, father, son,
mother, daughter
Family, friend, one, all
With, through, and by
Your love becomes
Reconciled.

Celebrate and rejoice -
The old has passed away
In you, in your resurrection,
In your life and love,
Everything becomes new!
Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals, A Place for Prayer, and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Sunday Prayer: Easter!

2011-04-24T01:00:00.001-05:00

Mystery
open us
to your mystery
of love.

Open us
as you
were opened for us
in love.

God of all
being
Reaching out your hand
in love

May we take
the hand
extended, open
for us.

And may we
offer
the same extended
love, all.
Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals, A Place for Prayer, and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Sunday Prayer: Palm/Passion Sunday

2011-04-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

God of all hopefulness, God of my life
On this holy day of Palms and Passions
and through this
the holiest of weeks,
when our Lenten journey
finds its completion
through pain
sorrow
despair
illness
losses of all kinds,
through fear
anger
hatred
vitriol
and finger pointing.

Through a (self) examination of
all the ways we work against you -
against your hopes and dreams
for creation
against your love poured out
in flesh and blood -
we hang our heads and bow our hearts
seeking your forgiveness
yearning for your guidance
desiring your compassion.

Fill us we pray, with the ability to
turn to you, kneeling before your grace
open our spirit that we may take you in
let you in
receive you in
taking You in..

Into our hearts and minds and souls
Let you in
that we might turn to you,
return to you,
be transformed in you,
through you, by you,
for you.

Transformed
once more,
this day, this week,
into a new self,
me, you.

May we become a new people,
a gentle people,
a people of
love and compassion,
born anew from our
deepest sorrow
through the breadth of your
forgiveness
and love.

And then, may we do likewise.
Forgive.
And, love.
Amen.

By The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals, A Place for Prayer and SeekingAuthenticVoice

A Prayer for the 5th Sunday in Lent

2011-04-09T21:24:00.000-05:00

Let us pray for the whole world
for all creation, for every living creature
for plants and flowers, for animals and for
fragile human beings.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Let us pray for those who suffer
the sick and dying, for sorrow, and for the loss
that separates us from the love
of the eternal God.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Let us pray for the nations of the world
for all people, for the land and water
that sustains and renews life.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Let us pray for the leaders of nation and cities;
May they remember to lean into you and to
listen to your words.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear Our Prayer.

Gracious God, protect those who have no place to
live and no one to love them. Help them to know
you, and to know love.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear Our Prayer.

We offer up our prayers of concern particularly
for those we love, family, friends, and others.
Fill us with Your Spirit.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear Our Prayer.

For all the blessings of this life we offer thanks,
help us to have generous hearts and giving spirits.
Help us to be your hands in the world.
Gracious God, in your mercy,
Hear Our Prayer.

Amen.

Written by The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals, A Place for Prayer and SeekingAuthenticVoice

A Resolution for Honest Conversation on Diversity

2011-04-05T08:13:00.001-05:00

A statement to the 174th Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana, submitted by the Rev. Canon William Barnwell: A resolution for Unity and Honest, Heartfelt Conversation within our Diversity. (click on the link "Diversity" for more)

The Words We Use for Ourselves Matter

2011-04-04T07:59:00.000-05:00

Sunday Prayer Lent 4A

2011-04-02T19:03:00.000-05:00

God of light and night, hear our prayers

Into the deep of night,
in a world of pain,
despair overwhelms -
for the sick, the dying,
the lost, those who weep,
those who mourn,
for those who tend to the weary
and care for the tired -
what can we do, when
You, oh God, seem
so far away?

God of light and night, hear our prayers.

Into the deep of night,
a sorrow unveiled,
the sin, our sins
hurt, and, hurting -
for the broken places,
for the wounded spirits,
for things known and
things unknown, for
all the ways we contribute
to the chaos that
separates us from you -
what to do?
O God, what?

God of light and night, hear our prayers.

God, Spirit, You
in the deep of night,
cause roots to form,
new life springs forth,
turning our hearts and minds
to your heart, your desire,
for hope, love -
what can we do?
Trust in you.

God of light and night, hear our prayers

Fill us with your kindness
like healing oil of Samuel
anoint us with your grace
name us as yours,
sanctified in your Spirit,
to do likewise
anoint, heal, love, pray, care
as you do,
with mercy and compassion.

God of light and night, hear our prayers

(written by the Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, crossposted on RevGalBlogPals, A Place for Prayer, and SeekingAuthenticVoice)

First Sunday in Lent

2011-04-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

READ MATTHEW 4:1-11

Many of us have probably experienced conversations, arguments, and debates where two or more differing understandings of scripture have been used against each other. The words seem powerful on “our” side, but the “other” side does not hear them the same way. Words can be used in many different ways—we all know that the childhood adage “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is nothing more than that in the end, an overused saying.

The words we use matter!

In this scripture passage, the devil chooses to use them to assert
power, to manipulate, to distort actuality, and to tempt to self-absorption. God uses words, and The Word, to create and liberate in grace.
In far less grandiose but equally intense terms, this dialogue of words goes on in our minds and hearts daily. In this Lent, to be centered in the Word of God through Christ for the sake of adoring God and serving the other is a salient “call” to concentrate. There is an ancient rabbinical tale that rabbis as they begin to learn and study Torah literally “eat” the
words. Words get under your skin and become “you.” God spoke creation into being. God said, and it was! This is serious stuff.

In this text, words drive us to God: “every word that comes from the mouth of God,” “Do not put...God to the test,” and “Worship the Lord your God and serve only God.” The words get eaten up in praise so that in the end, ONLY God speaks.

Words matter.

Words are matter; they make life.

Words matter; they wound and heal.

God give us the creative grace to speak words that shape matter and persons to fuller life in Christ - words that minister the love, mercy, promises and hope of God.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

What do you think it means to live “not by bread alone” but “by every word that comes from the mouth of God?”

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
“One does not live by
bread alone, but by
every word that comes
from the mouth of God”

Dr. H. Frederick Reisz, Jr. is President Emeritus of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC. He holds a
Ph.D. in theology from the University of Chicago, is an ordained Lutheran pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, and is the author of many articles and essays.

Here's a link to the Guide. I will include some of the reflections on this blog.

A WordsMatter Lenten Devotional

2011-03-31T08:56:00.000-05:00

We’ve all heard it before, and we’ve probably said it too, in an effort to cheer up a child reeling from the effects of name-calling or insults: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Perhaps we so often repeat this rhyme in the hopes that saying it will make it true.

Each of us knows that words have the power to wound deeper than sticks
and stones, and no matter how firmly we assert that we are rubber and
not glue, words have a way of sticking deep in our bones.
As followers of Christ, God’s Word made incarnate, we also know that
words have the power to transform, to inspire and to bring life. Words
of scripture and the traditional words of our communities can link us together and draw us into fellowship across space and time.

There are so many ways that words shape our world—we watch politicians
and news anchors “spin” stories with slick word tricks. Advertisers
tease us with promises of “new,” “improved,” and “all-natural” with no clear definitions of what those terms actually mean. Expressions like “blackmail,” “white lie,” and “black sheep” reveal just how deeply racial prejudices lie in our collective body. Clearly, our words do matter.
This Lent, the Words Matter project invites you to the spiritual discipline of paying attention to your words. Far from a desire to be politically correct, Words Matter focuses on deep thinking about what is really at stake in thewords we use, acknowledging that words can be used to tear down — but hopeful that more of us will embrace the potential of words to build up.

Each of the following reflections have been written thoughtfully by individualswith their individual experiences and wisdom. As you read the
reflections, try to understand what might be at stake for each author. If
something you read upsets you, ask yourself why—what is at stake for
you? Please consider these reflections as starting points for your own
exploration of what is at stake in the words we use—and feel free to use
this devotional booklet on your own or in a group.

This Lent we invite you to commit to a spiritual discipline of paying attentionto words. We think you’ll find that Words Matter.

Here's a link to the Guide. I will include some of the reflections on this blog.

A Prayer for Hope in the Wake of Disaster

2011-03-12T10:07:00.000-06:00

O gracious God, who created this earth
who brought order out of chaos
who designed land and water
earth and sky and all creatures
be merciful in your grace once again
restoring order through the calamity
of the earthquake and tsunami that struck
disaster and took lives in Japan.

O gracious God, fill the hearts of those
who are unable to find their way home
who have lost food and house, family and friends,
fill their hearts with peace, despite all evidence
to the contrary. Fill broken spirits with grace through
the kindness of strangers, the love offerings of hand
and heart, through which you, O God, take action.

O gracious God, enable the people of the world
to take action, to find the lost, tend to the injured,
mourn the dead,. Help families and friends, neighbors
and co-workers as the shock wears off, help them
to find the help they need for food, water, housing, and
comfort. Help us know how to respond, effectively.

O gracious God, protect the people of Japan from
greater harm from radiation leaks and other post-earthquake
disasters. Still the troubled waters and shaking land and
trembling bodies. Still the traumatized spirits of human beings
and surround them with gentleness and kindness, provide for
their needs, help us, who live outside Japan, know how to help
those who live in Japan, that we can be the face of Christ, the
love of God poured out, in a time of brokenness and fear.

Amen.

crossposted on A Place for Prayer and SeekingAuthenticVoice

God Utters Me

2011-03-07T07:41:00.000-06:00

God utters me like a word containing a partial thought of God's self....

Thomas Merton and source unknown

The World Needs Compassion

2011-03-04T12:37:00.000-06:00

A Comment from the Ecumenical Women's Orientation Day

2011-02-21T17:27:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, February 20, 2011 I spent the day attending the "Ecumenical Women's Orientation" for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). The day consisted of theological reflections from women and men around the world and training for advocacy at the United Nations. The theme of the UNCSW this year is "Access and Participation of Women and Girls in Education, Training, Science, and Technology, Including for the Promotion of Women's Equal Access to Full Employment and Decent Work." Our discussions focus on that which prevents girls and women from acquiring education and that which enables it. This, of course, varies widely from country to country.

One comment, among many, that stays with me from a woman from southern Sudan. Recently southern Sudan voted for independence from northen Sudan. After years of violence and war new structures are being put in place. I paraphrase that woman here:

When the group of women from northern Sudan greeted the women from southern Sudan they first took the children in their arms. Then they said, Your children are our children and our children are yours. They will never fight again.

Words That Create

2011-02-11T15:43:00.000-06:00

This was originally posted here and in the Henri Nouwen book, "Bread for the Journey."

Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, "Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me," but most of all, "buy me." With so many words around us, we quickly say: "Well, they're just words." Thus, words have lost much of their power.

Still, the word has the power to create. When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words.

Mixed Messages

2011-02-07T16:35:00.002-06:00

This was originally posted here.

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2011

Mixed Messages from ABofC Dangerous for LGBT in Uganda

Words Matter
by
Louise Brooks
Integrity USA
Board Member & Director of Communications

In his press conference yesterday in Dublin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, condemned the actions of the Ugandan rag "Rolling Stone" (not to be confused with the US magazine) for calling for the hanging of "homos". He pointed out that words matter ..... when uttered by what he called "this rotten, disgraceful Ugandan publication" and they have serious consequences. Responsibility needs to be taken, he said.

The same goes for the Archbishop. Words matter. In the same press conference he defended Ugandan Archbishop Henry Orombi's anti-gay stance. The Irish Times put it this way: "Defending Bishop Orombi, Archbishop Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, emphasised that, as with other relevant Anglican primates, Bishop Orombi’s position concerned “exclusion from ministry on grounds of behaviour, not orientation”.

Those words uttered by the Archbishop, supporting the institutionalized homophobia in the Church of Uganda, matter. They send a dangerous mixed message that does nothing but perpetuate an atmosphere of fear and discrimination. An atmosphere that could lead to violence and death. He needs to take responsibility for muddy-ing the waters.

Here is the Church of Uganda's position on homosexuality:

From a plain reading of Scripture, from a careful reading of Scripture, and from a critical reading of Scripture, homosexual practice has no place in God’s design of creation, the continuation of the human race through procreation, or His plan of redemption. Even natural law reveals that the very act of sexual intercourse is an experience of embracing the sexual “other”. The Church of Uganda, therefore, believes that “Homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture” (Resolution 1.10, 1998 Lambeth Conference). At the same time, the Church of Uganda is committed at all levels to offer counseling, healing and prayer for people with homosexual disorientation, especially in our schools and other institutions of learning. The Church is a safe place for individuals, who are confused about their sexuality or struggling with sexual brokenness, to seek help and healing.

The Archbishop supports Orambi's exclusion of homosexuals. How does excluding people for who they are even pretend to be Christian?

Words matter. Our words matter as well. We need to continue to urge the Archbishop of Canterbury and all faith leaders to step up and speak out against homophobia. We need to ask the Archbishop to stop speaking out of both sides of his mouth. He needs to hear words that say: Supporting those who support homophobia is no different than supporting homophobia yourself.

Yesterday the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts-Schori, called upon us all to "heal the world". A giant step toward healing is ending homophobia. A good start would be for the Archbishop of Canterbury to recognize his words matter. No more mixed messages. Please!!!!!!

Louise Brooks is a Media & Messaging Consultant.

Theology of Suffering at the Root of Abuse?

2011-01-15T09:22:00.000-06:00

Mary Condren, writing in the Irish Times reflects on the Pope's Christmas message and the tragedy of child abuse. She ponders how (the words we use to articulate) theology plays a role in perpetuating violence. I encourage you to read the article by clicking on the link above for the Irish Times. Here is a snippet of what she writes

"Enlightened therapists who understand the far-reaching effects of child abuse urge that we return to our poison containers, our bodies, seeking self-love and healing (Peter Levine).

Enlightened theologians examine theologies not only for their internal logic or truth status but also for the effects of truth: the healthiness or otherwise of theological stories.

They urge that we develop theologies of redemptive love rather than redemptive violence, especially in the light of the legacies of child abuse and religiously inspired political violence.

Yet, Vatican agencies today silence those who challenge poison container or scapegoating theologies. Furthermore, they threaten to defrock those priests whose silencing is revealed to the media.

Many theologies were formulated when humanity had few tools to understand how bodily trauma and brutal child- rearing practices fed the vicious cycle of shame and served the demands of empire – religious or political.

Toxic narratives lead to toxic outcomes. The time for such ignorance has long since passed."

Hope for Our Souls: A WordsMatter reflection

2011-01-10T07:38:00.000-06:00

It is not my practice to offer personal reflections on this blog, but under the circumstances this reflection, which I wrote for my personal blog, seems appropriate. Because, yes, our words matter.

I didn't preach today but I did go to church. I went wondering what words of comfort or wisdom I would hear to help me understand the violence, anger, and insanity, that fed the shootings in Tucson on Saturday. I know this shooting feels particularly personal to me because I lived there for a time and I have been to several events with Congresswoman Giffords. I hold her in high regard. When I heard the news yesterday I was stunned and profoundly saddened.

Having lived there, I know first-hand the propensity toward anger, prejudice, and violence that exists. Alarmingly, these have been increasing over the last few years,particularly in that region of Southern Arizona. It was disturbingly high and chronic in the small community I lived in south of Tucson. While it's true that members of the congregation carried concealed weapons which were always a concern, there were more pronounced issues to contend with. These included chronic, unresolved anger,a pronounced sense of entitlement, a high tolerance for inappropriate acting-out without consequences, and a higher than average level of depression and substance abuse. All of these were further fueled by systemic prejudice and fear.

On this Sunday morning when we gathered to celebrate the feast day of the baptism of Jesus, what sense could we make of the violence yesterday? Eighteen shot, six dead including a Judge and a nine year old girl, and a loved Congresswoman in critical condition, shot point blank in the head.

We didn't baptize anyone in the church I went to today, nor did we renew our baptismal vows, nor did the preacher talk about the meaning of baptism. It was a fine sermon., for another time. It just was not what I needed to hear on this day, the day after that tragedy.

Perhaps, if we had taken some time reflect on the Baptismal Rite, I may have found a bit of what I was hoping for, some understanding, some hope, some accountability?

Yes, accountability.

I know a young man shot these people...but we will fail to learn from this if we minimize this to him and his apparent “mental instability.”

We are a people who have gone astray. We are a people who have forgotten how to live in kindness. We are a people who have forgotten what it means to sin.

Then the Celebrant asks the following questions of the candidates who
can speak for themselves, and of the parents and godparents who speak
on behalf of the infants and younger children.

Question Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
Answer I renounce them.

Question Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
Answer I renounce them.

Question Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
Answer I renounce them.

Question Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?
Answer I do.

Question Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?
Answer I do.

Question Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?
Answer I do.

Do we really understand what we are saying here? What sin is? What evil is? Do we even really believe that there are such things as sin and evil? Or do we think the Church made them up just to make us feel ashamed and submissive?

As a society we tend to relegate sin to a set of cultural bound moral behaviors. This complicates and minimizes sin because these cultural bound moral behavior(s) deemed "sinful" change over time. Take divorce and remarriage, for example. The Church has enforced the idea that marriage is forever, regardless of how unhealthy a marriage is. The Church has said that divorce is a sin and remarriage is also a sin. In some churches today divorced and remarried people cannot receive Holy Communion.

Sometimes a marriage needs to end because the marriage is causing brokenness and harm. Sometimes marriages need to be worked on, for each party to examine the brokenness and work for reparation and reconciliation and forgiveness. Sometimes we just have to live our marriage vows, to love faithfully through good times and tough times, to work toward wholeness of self and other, instead behaving in ways that cause further brokenness.

The thing is, sin is about behavior - any behavior that causes harm to another and produces broken relationships with God, self, and other human beings. Looked at this way, as broken relationship, we can redirect our efforts from reducing sin to something it is not and toward what sin is.

I tend to define sin as any behavior that causes brokenness between God, self, and others. By this I mean anything that causes me to become broken with God, or broken with myself, or broken with others. Evil is the root that causes that brokenness. Evil is the force that tempts us. Evil is the power that draws us and pulls at us, distorting how we think and see, fooling us into self-deception, encouraging us to act upon self-deprecation, or grandiosity, arrogance, entitlement, and or violence. Evil is real and so is sin. Just look at how broken our world is. How lost we have become. How even basic civility has been pushed aside, how we have lost the ability to assume the best in others.

As a Christian I believe that we humans have souls. It's even possible that there is a “communal soul,” of sorts, that forms in congregations, in communities, in countries. The soul, individually and corporately, responds to how we nourish it and care for it, or neglect it. If we feed the soul with care and compassion we will show care and compassion to others. If we feed the soul with anger and mean-spirited words, we will become angry and mean spirited people. Yes, words matter.

Perhaps that is why the baptismal rite has the entire community listen to those taking these vows and then asks the community to respond with their support:

Celebrant Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?
People We will.

We are all responsible. We all need to renounce evil and embrace compassion, renounce sin, and embrace love, renounce fear and embrace trust, renounce anger and embrace hope. We need the redemption that can only come from turning away from behaviors that cause brokenness in the world, with God/self/others, and turning toward reconciliation. We cannot fool ourselves into thinking this is something we can do on our own - but we can do it with God's help.

In the Episcopal Church the baptismal covenant reminds us of this:

Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the
prayers?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People I will, with God’s help.

So, here is what I wanted to hear: we are all accountable for the sins and evils of the world we live, including the violence yesterday. We are accountable by things we have done and things we have not done. We are accountable by participating, in any way, in acts that have caused brokeness instead of acts that seek wholeness. We all need to turn and return to God, to seek absolution and reconciliation, and to move forward - with God's help - to live as God would have us live.

And, perhaps, with that, turning to God and with God's help living as God would have us, we will find hope for our souls.

Crossposted on SeekingAuthenticVoice

Conversation Guide

2011-01-03T18:48:00.000-06:00

The WordsMatter Conversation Guide is a tool for promoting dialogue rooted in diverse contexts that explores the words, images and symbols we use for God, self, and other human beings for the purpose of building trust and transformational relationships through the art of story-sharing. And, the guide is almost ready to send to the Church in New York for graphics, photos, finishing work. It will be ready for distribution later this month! Stay in touch with the blog and the Facebook page for updates.

A Theology for the WordsMatter Language Project

2010-12-22T08:52:00.000-06:00

We are in the process of reviewing and revising the WordsMatter Conversation Guide, based on feedback we have received from the Seattle "Train the Trainer" event held Dec. 3-5, 2010. In addition to reordering portions of the guide, having it professionally edited, and clarifying sections, we have added a "Theology of the Conversation."

It became apparent that we need to clearly explain that this conversation is anchored in the understanding that God continues to reveal God's self in creation and in and through human beings. As Christians we believe that God's love is poured out in the life of Christ, revealed in the crucifixion and resurrection, and manifests through time in the actions of the Holy Spirit. This conversation embraces a living God. What follows is the theology of this conversation as defined in the guide:

Religion comes from the Latin root word, religare, which means: “to tie back or connect.” The Christian writer Lactantius, writing in the early fourth century, said in his book Divinae Institutiones, we are “tied to God and bound to (God) by the bond of piety. “Religion” reveals the reality of the relationship of men and women to the world around us as a relationship that includes God. Practicing our faith is an act of binding us to God. As Episcopalians we believe that praying shapes believing. Furthermore, “the act of worshipping, since our worship is primarily prayer, shapes what we believe.”

Sunday morning and weekday worship tend to be the primary occasion when most of us take the time to pray, to reflect on who we are in relationship to God, and who God is in relationship to us. Worship offers us the opportunity to reflect on this mutual relationship between God and us through scripture, prayers, sermons, and hymns. Our worship uses non-verbal language too such as music, incense, bells, stained glass windows, crosses and other visual signs and symbols. The sacraments are offered and received, taken into our bodies, yet another way of binding/connecting/communing with God. Gestures and postures like bowing, standing, kneeling, lifting our hands, and touching others convey meaning and belief. Worship is also the place where those seeking a relationship with God, or a deeper relationship with God, encounter others on their own journey. Christianity has at it’s a core a relational theology, expressed in particular through the Trinity and the Incarnation.

James E. Griffiss, in his book, The Anglican Vision, from the New Church’s Teaching series argues that Episcopalians have an Incarnational theology as our primary locus of our identity. We read scripture through the lens of the incarnation and worship with an understanding of God in relationship to humanity through the life of Christ. This Incarnational theology states that the creative energy of God is and has been present since before creation. This energy of God manifests in many forms such as breath, wind, Word, Jesus, Holy Spirit and resonates in and through all creation.

The prologue to the Gospel of John gives us some insight into creating a theology for this conversation.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2Word was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through Word, and without Word not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in Word was life,* and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1, adapted).

Some suggest that Logos, translated here as “Word” can also mean “Discourse” or “Story” or, perhaps even “Conversation.” The Logos, by nature, invites relationship and sharing in and within creation. Our belief in the Trinity helps us understand how the Holy Spirit enables the Logos to be activated through time. Eastern theologians use the word "perichoresis," an interpenetrating dance-like relationship, when trying to describe the Holy Trinity. That divine community of interpenetrating love continues to go outward, so to speak, inviting all creation into the dance. As Christians the Nicene Creed is historically the way we profess our faith in a triune God, a God of relationship.

In the Nicene Creed we speak of one “catholic” church. But what does “catholic” mean? Simone Weil and Teilhard de Chardin suggest a broad definition of catholic: it must include the whole world. God’s household is the whole planet: it is composed of human beings living in interdependent relations with all other life-forms and earth process. A theology of this project is inherently sacramental and incarnational: Sacrament is traditionally defined as “an outward and visible expression of an inward and invisible grace.” The world is sacramental because it is an expression of God’s Self. The world is incarnational because we know the creative Word of God, which was with God before creation, is made manifest in the world in human flesh, in Jesus. Thus, the world is a sacramental incarnational reality.

A sixth century monk, mystic, and martyr “Maximus the Confessor” described the interaction between the Word of God and the expression of that Word into the world as a revelation of God’s self. Sallie McFague, a Christian “theologian” speaks of the world as God’s body.

Therefore the theologies that undergird this WordsMatter Language Project and conversation guide are “Relational,” “Sacramental” and “Incarnational”: God reveals God’s self in and through creation in ongoing dynamics. One way we Christians understand God’s self-revelation is through scripture. Other ways we encounter God is through human relationships and our interdependence with creation. From these encounters with God we form language: words, images, and symbols, to convey that experience.

For Immediate Release

2010-12-17T15:03:00.002-06:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Words Matter: Episcopal Church Leaders
considered how we speak about God, ourselves, and others

Seattle, Dec. 2010 - Eight leaders in the Episcopal Church attended a “Train-the-Trainer” conference for the WordsMatter Expansive Language Project in the Episcopal Church held in Seattle, Washington December 3-5, 2010. Trained were members of diocesan staff, University staff, the Navajo Nation, parish priests, and those working in Multicultural and Young Adult ministries.

“This conversation is crucial to our outreach to disaffected young adults, the de-churched, and the un-churched in our communities.” said Jason Sierra, Young Adult & Campus Ministries for The Episcopal Church Center, Seattle Office, “It is also critical to those in our pews as we face an ever-expanding multicultural awareness within Christianity.”

A goal of the project is that the conversation guide will enable conversation that build trust and the tool provided will increase our self-awareness and our sensitivity to others.

“Our vision,” said Terri Pilarski, licensed priest in the Diocese of Chicago, co-chair and developer of the WordsMatter Language Project in the Episcopal Church, “is for many conversations that take diverse contexts seriously in exploring the power of language (words, symbols or images) and how it can be used in life-giving ways that extend the hospitality of the church’s mission within the local church and community.”

Grounded in personal story sharing this project embraces the concept of Public Narrative. Public Narrative is a leadership art with a call to action rooted in one’s own journey and that of one’s community. Public narrative was used to help articulate the theme of General Convention in 2009, Ubuntu , which means: “I am because you are, we are interdependent.”

The sharing of stories and the discussion process offered in this guide is intended to expand and deepen our understanding of the cultural contexts in which we live and worship. We will increase our sensitivity to the ways in which the language one person/group uses to express God/self/others may also be the very language that wounds another person/group.

The process uses a descriptive method instead of a proscriptive method. Rather than saying what can’t be said or used this guide calls us to expand the words, images, and symbols we use to describe our experience of God, self, and others, in light of an expanding world view.

The WordsMatter project is affiliated with the National Council of Churches Women for Justice Working Group’s Expansive Language Committee and has been endorsed in the Episcopal Church by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, the Episcopal Church center and the offices for Young Adult and Campus Ministries and Intercultural Ministries. This project is an extension of General Convention resolutions AO95 (1985) and CO21 (1997) calling for the creation of supplemental texts for use in worship.

An ecumenical version of this tool is available through the National Council of Churches, USA,.

Find us on Facebook at: HERE

Friday Night Worship, a variation on Compline using Expansive Language

2010-12-12T21:32:00.000-06:00

After a time of silence
Officiant The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end.
People Amen.
Officiant Hear the teaching of Christ:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Officiant God has promised forgiveness to all who truly repent, and turn to Christ in faith and are themselves forgiving. In silence we call to mind the ways we have missed the mark in answering God’s call to live fully as God’s own.

Silence

Officiant and People
Lord, we confess that we have slept when you have urged us to remain awake. We confess that we have been passive and not active in living fully into you. We repent of our lack of courage in following you. We seek to follow you, no matter where the road may lead. We seek you to satisfy our deepest longing.

Officiant May the Almighty God grant us forgiveness of all our sins, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.
People Amen.
Officiant Eternal Spirit, flow through our being and open our lips,
People That our mouths may proclaim your praise.

Officiant and People
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm 4 Cum invocarem
1 Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; *
you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 "You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; *
how long will you worship dumb idols
and run after false gods?"
3 Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful; *
when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.
4 Tremble, then, and do not sin; *
speak to your heart in silence upon your bead.
5 Offer the appointed sacrifices *
and put your trust in the LORD.
6 Many are saying,
"Oh, that we might see better times!" *
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O LORD.
7 You have put gladness in my heart, *
more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
8 I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; *
for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Officiant The Lord be with you,
People And also with you,
Officiant Let us pray. Be present, Spirit of God, within us, your dwelling place and home, that this starless night will be penetrated by your light, all troubles calmed by your presence, all evil redeemed by your love, all pain transformed by your grace, and all dying glorified in your risen life.
People Amen

The Word of God
Reader A reading from Ephesians (4:1-16)
4I... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8.... 11The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into the One who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Reader Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.
People Thanks be to God.
Then follows
V. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit;
R. For you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth.
V. Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of your eye;
R. Hide us under the shadow of your wings.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

JESUS PRAYER

All: Eternal Spirit: Earth-maker, Pain-bearer,
Life-giver,
Source of all that is and all that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all, creation resonates
with celebration of your nameless name.

Let justice and mercy flood the earth;
let all creation harmonize in your imagination;
and let us recognize
that every thought and thing belongs to you.

With the bread we need for today, feed us;
in the hurts we absorb from each other
and those we inflict on others, forgive us;
in times of test and temptation, stand with us;
from the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you alone are creating, redeeming and sustaining our universe, now and forever. Amen

Officiant Lord, hear our prayer;
People And let our cry come to you.
Officiant Let us pray.
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.

Officiant Do not fear, for we are called by name. In the love of Christ we are fully known. Love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit.
People Amen.

Silence may be kept, and free intercessions and thanksgivings may be
offered.
Officiant and People
Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake
we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.
Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
Praise to the holy and undivided Trinity, one God: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

All repeat the Antiphon
Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake
we may watch with Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace.

Officiant Let us bless the Lord.
People Thanks be to God.
The Officiant concludes
The almighty and merciful God: Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Daughter, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us.
People Amen.

What We Learned

2010-12-09T08:40:00.000-06:00

Working Vision Statement created at the August Consultation:
Our vision is for many conversations that take diverse contexts seriously in exploring the power of language (words, symbols or images) and how it can be used in life-giving ways that extend the hospitality of the church’s mission within the church and community.

This vision is grounded in the Gospel mandate to affirm life and carry forth the healing love of God found within the gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of the death-dealing effects of sin in our world.

Keeping this vision in mind, as the working vision for Train the trainer sessions, and the overall goal of the project, each group that uses the conversation guide may create their own vision for their context. It is hoped that groups will continue to use the original prompt question (see below for prompt question)for writing the narrative, but it is understood that the question may change for some contexts.

Process
This gathering approached language issues using a descriptive rather than a proscriptive method. We expanded the language conversation, grounding it in relationship and listening to each others’ stories of experiencing the power of language and the hope for breaking through of God’s action.

Each person at the gathering responded to the question: “Share with us an experience when you noticed the power and/or importance of language (words, symbols, or images) and the impact of that language on your life, your faith community, or your relationship with God. This experience may have helped you embrace the Divine more fully or it may have been destructive, harmful, or painful to you in your personal and/or faith journey.”

After listening to one another’s stories and noting our own responses in individual journals and on newsprint sheets that were posted around the space, we spent time as a whole group talking about what stood out for us in what we had heard. Later we met in small groups to discuss what we had learned from the stories. Specifically we looked at how it felt to share our stories, how safe or vulnerable did we feel, and what kind of visions are we forming for our specific contexts in which we will host the conversation.

What we learned
The stories we heard called us to expansion—expanding the way we think and talk about ourselves, others, and our God. Instead of restricting language, the stories called for adding more diverse language.

The stories called us to expand contextual cultural attentiveness—understanding that language speaks differently in different contexts.

The stories called us to expand our understanding of how language is tied to systems of power and has been and can be harmful, oppressive, and painful.

The stories showed us that in an environment created through respectful intentional listening, compliance to rules about specific words was not as helpful as commitment to understanding the impact of the power of language. This kind of commitment can lead to meaningful analysis of systems of power that oppose the Gospel; extending a life-affirming hospitality within the church and community.

The stories called us to spread this conversation to as many different places as possible.

Where do we go from here?
Each of those who attended the Seattle session in December agreed to host, within the next year, a conversation for a group of people in their context and to offer an informational workshop at their diocesan convention. Feedback will be submitted so we can continue to learn about the usefulness of the conversation guide, what works and what might be more useful.

What the original consultation in August 2010 learned at their gathering was shared with the NCC Justice for Women Working Group to discern the next steps to spread these conversations as broadly as possible. Participants were invited to be an ongoing part of the process.

In the Episcopal Church that led to this gathering in Seattle in December 2010. We shared our learnings with the NCC Justice for Women Working Group and Episcopal Church Center staff working in multicultural and mission. In January a report will be submitted to Ruth Meyers, chair of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to be presented at the March SCLM meeting. The SCLM has endorsed this project.

The Power of Story continued....

2010-12-08T08:05:00.000-06:00

From the consultation that was held in Chicago, IL in August 2010 a "module" or Conversation Guide was created. This guide, currently being used, reviewed, and adapted, follows closely the structure of the consultation. This structure was recreated in Seattle, WA on Dec. 3-5, with a group of Episcopal lay and ordained, youth workers, those who serve in multicultural ministries, a congregational leader from the Navajo Nation, Church Center Staff, Diocesan staff, and parish priests. The group of ten have become a test pilot of "Trained trainers" who agreed to train others within their context. Each shared a story from their context and from that sharing learned about the power of our stories to build communities of trust and hope. Story sharing for this project builds off of the Public Narrative initiative from General Convention 2009. For more on Public Narrative go HERE.

The following is an excerpt from the Conversation Guide:

Sharing Stories

From time eternal human beings have told stories. Generations of families and communities share stories about their common life. Each week in worship we listen to and reflect on “The Story” finding grace and healing for each of us. These stories frame our identity.

The General Convention of The Episcopal Church in 2003 passed a resolution, A083, calling every Episcopalian to be able to articulate his or her faith story; and urge dioceses and congregations to create opportunities for these stories to be told. The 2009 General Convention of The Episcopal Church adopted the theme “Ubuntu” which is a form of story sharing. Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, engaged all the deputies attending convention in a structure process of personal story called, Public Narrative. This exercise of sharing stories from one’s faith journey, as well as the faith journey of one’s community, invited conversation around relationship and interdependence as members of the Episcopal Church. The sharing of stories, of coming to understand more deeply who we are, is then the foundation from which our mission as members of The Episcopal Church calls us to action in the world. Congregations around the communion are launching their own “Public Narrative Projects.”

The goal of the Words Matter conversation is similar and acknowledges the power of story to move us deeper in mutual understanding. At the very least shared stories heighten our awareness of self and others. Carol Howard Merritt reminds us of the importance of narrative. “Personal narratives put flesh and bone on historic facts. Stories introduce the “other” by inviting us to enter into the experience of someone else through her imagination. Stories allow the reader to become captivated by the other, to enter the other’s reality. The listener forgets about herself for a moment, until something within her cries out: That’s like me. Then a connection is made, a connection through emotion and empathy.” (page 68, Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation; Carol Howard Merritt; Alban Institute: Herndon VA, 2010)

Those who gathered at the August Consultation came prepared to share a personal story using the following prompt question:

“Share with us an experience when you noticed the power and/or importance of language (words, symbols, or images) and the impact of that language on your life, your faith community, or your relationship with God. This experience may have helped you embrace the Divine more fully or it may have been destructive, harmful, or painful to you in your personal and/or faith journey.”

After listening to one another’s stories and noting our own responses, we met in small groups to discuss what we had learned from the stories.

What we learned

The stories we heard called us to expansion—expanding the way we think and talk about ourselves, others, and our God. Instead of restricting language, the stories called for adding more diverse language. The stories called us to expand contextual cultural attentiveness—understanding that language speaks differently in different contexts. They called us to expand our understanding of how language is tied to systems of power and has been and can be harmful, oppressive, and death-dealing. And they showed us that in an environment created through respectful intentional listening, compliance to rules about specific words was not as helpful as commitment to understanding the impact of the power of language. This kind of commitment can lead to real, meaningful analysis of systems of power that oppose the Gospel; extending a life-affirming hospitality within the church and community. Finally, the stories called us to spread this conversation to as many different places as possible.

If you are interested in learning more about this Conversation or hosting a conversation in your parish, small group, or context, please contact us at tecwordsmatter at gmail dot com.

The Power of Story

2010-12-07T17:52:00.000-06:00

On December 3-5, a group of ten gathered at the Dumas Bay Retreat Center in Federal Way, Washington,just south of Seattle. Those attending came from across the country, both lay members of the Episcopal Church and clergy. Some work with youth and young adults in their settings, others with pastoral care, one came from the Navajo nation in the four corners region, several work with multicultural communities, some had met before, many were meeting for the first time. The group gathered to share stories, to learn and grow, to increase our awareness of the impact of cultural norms on those not of the cultural, and to expand our sensitivity and understanding of God, self, and others.

Building on the first WordsMatter consultation that took place in Chicago, August 9-11, 2010, this event engaged the conversation guide that was created in August. Our intent was to learn if the guide offers a process that could be replicated, what works, and what needs adapting.

We learned that the power of sharing story transcends the anxiety of a group of strangers and enables a community of trust to form. Each of those gathered shared a story using this prompt question:

Share with us an experience when you noticed the power and/or
importance of language (words, symbols, or images) and the impact
of that language on your life, your faith community, or your relationship
with God. This experience may have helped you embrace the
Divine more fully or it may have been destructive, harmful, or painful
to you in your personal and/or faith journey.

Here's a sample of one of those stories written and shared by the Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, a co-leader of the event and co-developer of the resource:

I should have asked her, “What do you mean by comfortable?”

I think I know what she meant when she said, “With so much change in the world the Church should be the one place that never changes. It should be comfortable.”

I am conflicted when “church” and “comfortable” are used in the same sentence.

On the one hand I work hard to help visitors and newcomers feel comfortable when they worship. I believe in hospitality, that people should easily navigate our complicated service, know when to stand, kneel, sit, sing, cross oneself, come up for communion, what to say when, whether or not its ok to not do any of these and still fit in, how to find coffee hour, and will anyone speak to me or help me - or will I stand alone with my stale cookie and bad coffee?

There is a fine line between what is comfortable for one person and what is uncomfortable to another.

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. (Isaiah 40.1)

The woman said this because the church was going through changes....

As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.... (Isaiah 66.13)

And so I’ve been thinking about comfort and comfortable. Could I have given them what they wanted and restored “things” back, as close as possible, to how it had been before the changes happened? Could I have done that? Would that actually have been the comfort-able thing to do?

Comfort: “to give strength and hope, to ease grief or trouble.”

The church may be a place of comfort. We all may find strength and hope in our worship and our faith-life, church may be a place where our grief can be eased and our troubles cared for.

So, here lies my conflict. The church may be a place of comfort but does that mean it "should be comfortable;" the church should be my personal place of “contentment and security?”

Comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work.... (2 Thessalonians 2.17)

If we live into these words from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, then our comfort, our strength and hope, is found in the work we do. Jesus reminds us in Mathew 22 that the work we are to do is love. We are to love God, love self, and love others.

I don’t know about you, but I have found my efforts to love as God asks takes me right out of my “comfortableness” even as I try to “comfort” those I love.

Each story sharing time was followed by a minute of silence, honoring the story shared and the one who shared it. After all the stories had been shared the group reflected on what was heard and how their experience of God, self, or other was expanded.

We also talked about how each of us could use this Conversation Guide in our own contexts and what purpose it would accomplish in our congregational and diocesan roles. More on the outcome will follow in the next post.

Expansive Language Videoclip

2010-12-02T23:15:00.000-06:00

Words Matter Teaser Trailer from Words Matter on Vimeo.

WordsMatter Introduction for Friday and a link to a short video trailer

2010-11-16T09:19:00.000-06:00

Here is the introduction I am preparing for the workshop I will lead on Friday for the WordsMatter workshop at the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago convention....and then a link to a cool video clip

Good Morning and welcome to this WordsMatter workshop. This workshop is one way the Episcopal Church is participating in the National Council of Churches Expansive Language project. We have been part of this project for decades. For us the conversation on language found authority in the General Convention of 1985 with resolution AO95 which authorized the creation of inclusive language materials for Sunday and daily worship. These materials are known as Enriching Our Worship.

This particular conversation began in earnest last winter with the reconstruction of the Expansive Language Committee of the NCC’s Women for Justice Working Group. Our vision was to bring a diverse group of Christians together for a conversation on the language we use to talk about and describe ourselves, God, and others. From that conversation we hoped to create a resource that would enable other groups have this same kind of focused discussion. Although this project began as a conversation about inclusive language it quickly grew into a conversation about Expansive language, honoring the various contexts in which Christians live, worship, and come to know self, one another and God.

The Expansive Language Committee organized a consultation that took place here in Chicago from Aug. 9-11. We brought 30 people from as wide a range of Christianity as we could gather: diverse ethnicity, sexuality and gender, denominations, theology, and so on. We asked folks to come with a prepared story to share using a prompt question on a time when language, and by language we mean words, images, and symbols, impacted a person’s faith. The stories were to be about three minutes long. This idea built off of the same concept of personal story sharing used by deputies to General Convention in 2009, who engaged in what is now called “Public Narrative.”

Public Narrative is a leadership art that can be used by members of the Episcopal Church to articulate the call to action that is rooted in one’s own journey and that of one’s community. Public narrative was used to help articulate the theme of General Convention in 2009, Ubuntu , which means: “I am because you are, we are interdependent.”

The purpose of that work was to offer an overview of the art of public narrative and create an opportunity for a broader conversation at General Convention...

The Expansive Language project has adopted story sharing narrative as part of our conversation. Through public narrative and this module we have an opportunity for the Episcopal Church, a community of 7000 congregations and over 2 million members, to articulate a deeper understanding of one another. The sharing of stories and the discussion that follows is intended to expand and deepen our understanding of the cultural contexts in which we live and worship. We will increase our sensitivity to the ways which the language one person/group finds to reveal God/self/others may also be the very language that hurts another person/group. For example, one of the participants at the August consultation was blind. She spoke about the disparaging way we use blindness when talking about faith and spirituality – spiritually blind. For her being blind is her most precious gift, the very characteristic that makes her who she is in God’s image – not a negative thing at all. She said, “when will being blind be the cool thing?”

I serve on the Expansive Language Committee for the Women for Justice Working Group of National Council of Churches. As part of that committee I served on the planning team that organized and staffed the August consultation. I chair the committee that oversees this module and I created the module we are about to review. I am the lead person bringing this project into the Episcopal Church. This is our first effort to teach the module. I will co-lead a second training session in Seattle in December for 12 people, from different dioceses around the country, who are members of Diocesan staff and or seminaries.

My hope is that each of you will take this module and use it in your congregation and send me feedback. I need to send a report to the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music in January, so if you can use it and report back to me by the middle of January, that will be great. If not please try to use it within the next 6 months and send me feedback.

And now, to the project and how this module works: (and then I'll present the module). - The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, M.Div, MSW

For more you can follow this LINK and see a trailer from the August Consultation.

Check This Out, a Video....

2010-11-15T17:07:00.000-06:00

Check out by clicking on WordsMatter - for a video clip from the August Consultation...

Press Release Post Event August 2010

2010-08-17T18:29:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Words Matter: NCC conversation in Chicago August 9-11
considered how we speak about each other and God

Chicago, August 17, 2010 - “For slightly less than half my life I was an intentionally de-churched person. Although the faith of my childhood had been a source of great comfort to me I had also found that church to hold a very narrow view of God. My own prayer life suggested to me that God was much more expansive than the church was teaching me...” offered The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, an Episcopal priest in the diocese of Chicago. Her story opened the conference sponsored by the NCC in Chicago, August 9-11 to explore the language we use to talk about God and one another.

“Our vision,” said Ann Tiemeyer, Program Director for Women’s Ministries at the National Council of Churches, “is for many conversations that take diverse contexts seriously in exploring the power of language (words, symbols or images) and how it can be used in life-giving ways that extend the hospitality of the church’s mission within the local church and community.

“This vision is grounded in the Gospel mandate to affirm life and carry forth the healing love of God found within the gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of the death-dealing effects of sin in our world.”

This gathering approached language issues using a descriptive rather than a proscriptive method. The conversation was grounded in relationship and listening to each others’ stories of experiencing the power of language and the breaking through of God’s healing.

Each person at the August gathering responded to the prompt: Share with us an experience when you noticed the power and/or importance of language (words, symbols, or images) and the impact of that language on your life, your faith community, or your relationship with God. This experience may have helped you embrace the Divine more fully or it may have been destructive, harmful, or painful to you in your personal and/or faith journey.

The stories told by the group called us to expand contextual cultural attentiveness—understanding that language speaks differently in different contexts. NaKeisha S. Blount, joint staff of the United Church of Christ and the National Council of Churches, who is affiliated with the American Baptist and Progressive National Baptist Churches, described the huge cultural difference she often moves between, calling for more understanding of one another’s contexts. “Truth be told, there are those who are opposed to language like ‘God the Father’ because they didn’t have a father, or had a distant or abusive father,” Blount said, using a common example in discussions of language. “Truth be told,” she continued, “there are those who are deeply grieved over the loss of ‘God the Father’ because they didn’t have a father, or had a distant or abusive father.”

The stories told by the group called us to spread this conversation to as many different places as possible. In beginning to think about how to spread these conversations, the participants acknowledged the need for a variety of methods that might include listening, dialogue, liturgy and hymnody, humor, story-telling, art, and social media networks.

What was learned at this gathering will be shared with the NCC Justice for Women Working Group to discern the next steps to spread these conversations as broadly as possible. Inez Torres-Davis, Director for Justice of Women of the ELCA, and a member of the working group said, “Our hope is to have such conversations occur in congregations, pericope studies, classrooms, forums, Sunday schools, pulpits, and so forth…The scholarship on expanding language has been done, including liberation, mujerista, womanist, feminist, GLBT, ableist, patriarchal, and other analyses of power within the faith and within those who hold the faith. It is now time to begin applying this knowledge.”

Among the 25 participants, 8 were men, 6 were under 30, 8 identified as LGBT, 8 were clergy, 9 were lay, 5 were seminary professors, 3 were seminarians, PhD candidates or recent grads. 3 participants identified as Latino/a, 7 as African American, 3 as Asian, 1 as Native American, 8 as Caucasian, and 3 as mixed/bi-racial.

Participants came from the following communions: The African Methodist Episcopal Church, The American Baptist Church, The Episcopal Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Orthodox Church of America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., The Roman Catholic Church, The United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church.

A Reflection on Language

2010-08-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

A reflection by The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, offered at the Chicago Consultation, August 9, 2010, on the question: “Share with us an experience when you noticed the power and/or importance of language (words, symbols, or images) and the impact of that language on your life, your faith community, or your relationship with God. This experience may have helped you embrace the Divine more fully or it may have been destructive, harmful, or painful to you in your personal and/or faith journey.”

For slightly less than half my life I was an intentionally de-churched person. Although the faith of my childhood had been a source of great comfort to me I had also found that church to hold a very narrow view of God. My own prayer life suggested to me that God was much more expansive than the church was teaching me. And so while I left the institutional church when I was 15, not to return until I was 31, I never left my relationship with God, or at least I never left my pursuit of a life of faith.

A few years after I became de-churched, sometime around the year 1975, I found myself, and my college roommates on a pursuit for enlightenment. By the early 1980’s I’d wandered through a variety of new age pursuits, crystals and yoga, and meditation. One day, while meditating it occurred to me that I still celebrated Christmas and Easter. And not just in a social way, for the gifts and the parties, but in a sacred way. Christmas and Easter were, for me, holy days, even if I didn’t go to church. And with that thought I realized I was still a Christian. I didn’t fully understand then, what it meant to maintain a belief in the Incarnation and the Resurrection, and the transformational potential....but I think I’m beginning too.

I’ve been thinking about bread lately, in particular making bread in seminary for our daily Eucharist. Later, when I became a rector in my first parish, the first thing the congregation wanted to explore was the bread and wine used in the Eucharist. We thought it might be interesting to serve a different bread and wine for each of the liturgical seasons of the year. So, one bread and wine combination in Easter, a different one in Ordinary Time, and yet another one in Lent. In order to make these complex decisions we had a bread and wine tasting party, where we literally sampled bread and wine and came up with some combinations we liked, these then became what we used in the Eucharist. Of course it involved baking our own bread.

I've been thinking about bread lately in part because I had to decide if I was going to make bread or buy ready-made bread for our final worship service. It would have been much easier to just buy four or five loaves of bread. But somehow store bought bread just didn't seem right. Making bread for this worship represents, for me, the coming together of many separate and distinct ingredients and creating a whole. Considering what we are hoping to create in and from this gathering making the bread just seemed right. We are after all considering the words, images, and symbols that speak to us about Christ, about God, about faith, about community. For me bread is a symbol, an image, and a word that speaks to those elements we are considering.

The bread I made is intended to represent diversity too. I made a gluten free loaf that is white and crumbly, a white/whole wheat blend that is caramel colored and slightly sweet, a whole wheat that is a warm brown, and a rye/bulgur blend that is dark and earthy. Our final worship will have breads of different flavors, colors, and textures. The bread will not be consecrated with the words that, in some traditions, my own included, make it holy, make it the Body of Christ. But the bread holds the prayers I prayed while making it, prayers for a grace filled conversation. The bread will receive our prayers and thoughts as we prepare to consume it. And somehow, by the generosity of the Spirit, present with us in this gathering, I hope the bread is for us, as it is for me, a symbol, an image, of the Incarnation, of the Resurrection, of the presence of Christ, of the Body of Christ, of you and me, of community.

For Immediate Release

2010-07-23T18:27:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of Communication, Diocese of Chicago

NCC group to meet in Chicago August 9-11
to discuss the words we use to talk about God

Chicago, July 23, 2010 -- A diverse group of Christians will gather here August 9-11 to talk about the language people use to talk about God and faith.

The National Council of Churches (NCC) symposium, “Language Matters,” will discuss how to talk about God and faith in ways that respects the sensibilities of people from a variety of Christian traditions and viewpoints.

The conversation will focus on the language, images, and symbols used in worship and everyday life to talk about faith and God.

Initiated by the NCC’s Justice for Women Working Group, this conversation is a first step in a larger project designed to create resources for congregations and groups to assist their own conversations.

"Issues around the use of language in our churches have been on the agenda of J4WWG for years. Now the opportunity to take this discussion to another level has arrived. I hope this consultation will be the first of many conversations as we continue to explore ways to welcome and value every person who walks through the doors of our churches,” said Kim Robey, chair of the Justice for Women Working Group.

The term “expansive language” has been used in some circles to describe respectful language that honors all of God’s people and is more than just “gender inclusive”.

As communions seek to become genuinely inclusive as well as multiracial communities of faith, planners say, the conversation about the use of language in churches becomes more critical, and more challenging.

Sensitivity to gender inclusive language, particularly religious language and metaphor, emerged in the 1970’s with the advent of feminist theology and feminist biblical exegesis and hermeneutics. Many denominations began the process of developing gender inclusive worship materials, protocols for publications, and even biblical translations that offered metaphors and names for God and humanity that reflected this inclusiveness.

In 1988 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church first approved Supplemental Liturgical Texts, now known as Enriching Our Worship, as an alternate to the Book of Common Prayer for Episcopal worship.

“While the Episcopal Church has been at work on expansive language texts for over two decades, the extent of their use varies. I’m delighted that a new resource is being created to encourage dialogue about this important topic,” said the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, chair of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, and Hodges-Haynes Professor of Liturgics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Part of the impetus to have a meeting on language is the impression of some observers that the use of gender inclusive language throughout NCC member communions has declined, say the planners. They also note that new insights have emerged within churches about language that reinforces harmful stereotypes around the realities of race, disabilities, sexuality orientation and gender.

“As a parish priest for ten years I understand that the primary locus of formation happens in Sunday morning worship. We Episcopalians are fond of saying, ‘praying shapes believing.’ Therefore the words, symbols and images used in worship are crucial in forming our faith,” said The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, licensed priest in the Diocese of Chicago and a member of the planning committee. “I’m excited to be a part of the planning committee for this event and hopeful for the outcome.”

The August gathering will explore dimensions of language, images, and symbols for God through multiple approaches that reflect the diversity of the group.

The 30 participants, both lay and ordained, come from a wide diversity of NCC member communions and religious traditions.

Co-facilitators are Aleese Moore-Orbih, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and director of training and consulting for FaithTrust Institute, and Virstan Choy, a minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a church consultant and member of the adjunct faculty at McCormick Theological Seminary.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
For Additional Information Contact

Kim Robey
Chair, Women for Justice Working Group
Krobey1@gmail.com

Rev. Ann Tiemeyer
Program Director Women’s Ministries
National Council of Churches, USA
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 800
New York, NY 10014
atiemeyer@ncccusa.org
212-924-2605