For Sale: 815 A Parable of Postmodern Christianity

Over at World Opinions Newsletter, Albert Mohler posted about the recent announcement that Episcopalians will be selling their headquarters in New York city. A building we call 815. 

After a discussion of the timeline of the decline of the Episcopalian denomination, he gets to the point, 

"In recent days, the church has announced plans to sell its Manhattan headquarters, formally known as the Episcopal Church Center. A press release from the Episcopal News Service indicated that the sale of the church’s 63-year-old headquarters building, located at a prestigious New York City address, might be in order. As far back as the 1970s, the denomination had considered the sale of the facility. Now, the church’s presiding bishop has announced the intention to sell the building, if the real estate will bring an adequate price. The church’s leadership indicated that they would be open to co-development proposals and other options. It is also clear that any specific proposal to sell the facility will be hotly debated and, if financially adequate, might still trip ideological and social justice tripwires within the denomination.

In any event, the announcement of the intention to sell the denomination’s headquarters is deeply revealing. The story has to include the displacement of The Episcopal Church in American culture. The church of presidents has moved so steadily to the left that it has become a parable of postmodern Christianity—what’s left when the gospel is sidelined and the Holy Scriptures are undermined.

Even as this news story broke, a series of unrelated articles in the media considered what would happen to abandoned church buildings in American cities. Mayors and others are looking to abandoned churches for repurposing as social centers or subsidized housing. The hard fact is that even healthy denominations may decide to sell real estate—even a venerable headquarters building. But it’s a very different thing when denomination collapse is on the horizon. That’s the parable visible in this announcement from The Episcopal Church. In that sense, the sale of a building is the least of its problems."

Sell it!? 

If they were serious about being "woke", they would give it back to the Indians. 

Happy Father's Day: "For I have come to set a man against his father"

 Jesus' words in this Sunday's reading from Matthew 10:24-39 are hard hitting.

‘A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

 ‘So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father.  And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

 ‘Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

 ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

 For I have come to set a man against his father,

and a daughter against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Who do love more? 

Meanwhile in India: Religious persecution continues

In India some states make it illegal to even talk to someone about converting to Christianity, but it appears to be okay to force conversions to Hinduism.

From Roy's Report,

Hundreds of Christians in central India have been denied clean water, fresh produce and employment for nearly a month in unsuccessful attempts to force them to denounce Christianity, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported May 29.

More than 180 Christian tribal families in Chhattisgarh state in central India are blocked from community rivers and other water sources; have been denied employment in a scheme orchestrated by the government, and are barred from collecting and selling non-timber forest products, a main tribal source of nourishment and income.

The families, termed Vivasis because of their tribal heritage, are spread among 32 villages in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, where many Christians reside among the majority Hindi nation of nearly 1.5 billion people.

“Christian community leaders have stated that these severe boycotts are aimed at pressuring believers into abandoning their faith and participating in Ghar Wapsi or ‘homecoming’ programs, meaning re-converting to Hinduism,” ICC said in reporting the persecution. “These areas of the Kanker districts have also previously seen broader tensions in the past, with various local village authorities issuing resolutions to restrict Christian burials and the entry of pastors.”

Violence often follows such boycotts and religious exclusions, ICC said, “with police and district administrations unable to take decisive action to prevent the atrocities.”

When I was in India I witnessed all sorts of Hindu practices that gave me an opening to talk about the differences between Christianity and Hinduism with our Muslim guide. Fortunately he did not turn me in, but he too was a religious minority and knew better. 

 

Work to do

 In this Sunday's reading from Matthew 9:35-10:23, Jesus instructs the twelve on their first mission trip.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.’

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for labourers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.

 ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Persecution persists to this day, and there are still places in the world that are no-go zones for bearers of  the Good News.

Some places are in our own country.

Some are in people's hearts.

We have work to do/

Who is watching what you say in Wales

Travelling to the U.K.? You had better watch what you say because Big Brother is listening.

From The Free Speech Union,

South Wales Police has told its officers that they must log anti-Islam conversations under new guidance.

The force has told officers that this includes anything that goes beyond "legitimate" discussion of Islam. But what constitutes "legitimate" discussion of Islam in a country that abolished blasphemy laws 18 years ago?

It is painfully clear that this subjective guidance hands officers the power to decide what constitutes acceptable speech about Islam — which will inevitably have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.

Should an officer decide that someone has crossed the line of what they deem acceptable speech about Islam and Muslims, the police will in all likelihood create a record of an anti-social behaviour incident — in the absence of the Orwellian non-crime hate incident (NCHI) — which could then be disclosed in an enhanced DBS check and prevent someone from getting a job.

The Free Speech Union has written to South Wales Police requesting that it withdraw its guidance, and threatening legal action by way of judicial review should it fail to do so.

The Free Speech Union's General Secretary and founder has said that the force now risks "penalising people for expressing misgivings about Islam", contrary to free speech protections enshrined in law.

Lord Young told The Telegraph: "The Government was careful to include free speech safeguards in its official definition of anti-Muslim hostility, making clear that it was not intended to inhibit criticism of Islam or Islamic religious practices, such as ritual public prayer.

"Our concern is that police forces and other public bodies adopting the definition will gold-plate it, ignoring those safeguards and penalising people for expressing misgivings about Islam, even when those views are rooted in evidence rather than prejudice.

"In particular, we are concerned that the default police response to reports of anti-Muslim hostility — even where they clearly fall outside the definition — will be to record them as 'anti-social behaviour incidents', the new name for 'non-crime hate incidents'. Those records may then be disclosed in enhanced DBS checks."

The Free Speech Union has long warned that an official Islamophobia definition would become a de facto blasphemy law, silencing legitimate criticism and debate of Islam. That warning has been vindicated repeatedly in the three months since the Government announced its new "anti-Muslim hostility definition".

After Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy criticised a mass Muslim public prayer event in Trafalgar Square, Labour MPs reported him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, branded him an Islamophobe, and he faced calls to resign from the Prime Minister.

Last week, 27 Labour backbench MPs wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) accusing Reform UK of Islamophobia and urging an investigation. The letter was coordinated by Afzal Khan MP, a leading campaigner for an official definition of Islamophobia.

Forty-five minutes after the definition was announced by the Communities Secretary in the House of Commons, pro-Gaza MP Iqbal Mohamed asked for it to be incorporated into the Nolan Principles of Public Life — a move that would have resulted in MPs and peers being sanctioned should they fall foul of this vague and subjective definition, or even raise sensitive matters such as the grooming gangs scandal or Islamist extremism.

The Telegraph also revealed the story of a Free Speech Union member who was sacked from her role as chair of Bradford Police Scrutiny Panel after insisting that West Yorkshire Police address the "elephant in the room" of Islamist extremism at an emergency meeting held in the wake of the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester.

While the Government's definition of Islamophobia poses a threat to free speech, the definition adopted by South Wales Police goes further. South Wales Police's interpretation adds an extra phrase to the Government's definition that could have a chilling effect on free speech and adversely affect people's employment prospects.

As a result of this policy, individuals may be unable to predict whether their lawful speech or beliefs will be recorded by the police, or how any resulting record may be used, retained, or relied upon.

Lawyers at the Free Speech Union wrote in their letter to South Wales Police: "The memo issued by South Wales Police gives rise to an unjustified chilling effect on lawful expression and belief.

"Individuals are deterred from expressing religious, philosophical or political views, or from manifesting their beliefs, by the knowledge that doing so may result in police categorisation and recording as an instance of hostility, notwithstanding the absence of any criminal conduct."

 

It is believed that several other police forces have adopted a similar approach.

If You Weren't Paying Attention

 

This Sunday, the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) used in many churches omits four verses from the Gospel reading and presents pewsitters with Matthew 9:9-13,18-26.

Filling the gap, I have reinstated the missing verses below and highlighted them in red.

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

10 And as he sat at dinner* in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting* with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ 12But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,* but your disciples do not fast?’ 15And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue* came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, ‘Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

I guess the RCL altered the Gospel reading to make things easier on either the preacher, the pewsitters, or both, but that was not the intent of  Matthew or the Spirit that inspired him. 

We see Jesus basically calling the Pharisees "old wineskins" that would explode if they consumed his words. I suppose the RCL editors did not want the Sunday crowd to get the impression that Jesus would ever offend anyone. 

Pay attention when someone tries to alter the text. There is always a reason why. 

Just Another Nail

From The Christian Post comes word of another nail being hammered into the Episcopal organization's coffin. 

The Rev. Sarah Fisher has been installed as bishop of an Episcopal Church diocese, reportedly becoming the first woman in a same-sex relationship to be elevated to that position in the southern United States.

Fisher, who is in a same-sex union with the Rev. Mandy Brady, was installed as the ninth bishop of the North Carolina-based Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina on Saturday.

Although there have been other openly gay bishops in The Episcopal Church, a spokesperson for the denomination told The Christian Post on Wednesday that, to her knowledge, “Bishop Fisher is the first openly lesbian Episcopal Church bishop for a diocese based in the South.”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe served as chief consecrator at the service, while Bishop Robert Wright of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta preached at the ceremony, the Episcopal News Service reported.

I would have expected this first from Western North Carolina since Asheville has been known as "The Berkeley of the East Coast" for many years.