Ramblings of Daniel Ross-Jones
Archive for January, 2007
Jesus was a football star
Jan 31st
The Ascension confirmation students have been painting a mural in the hallway outside of the synod office over the past two weeks. (The synod office is located in leased space in a wing of the church.) The images are self-portraits of themselves, and the addition of bright, vibrant color in the hallway has stirred up a lot of discussion.
My favorite is a girl who imagined herself with art deco qualities. You can spot the pastors of the congregation from a mile away, but in the center is the image that receives the most attention. It’s a tall man — standing at least six-foot-five in the hallway that is only seven feet tall, with a familiar golden glow surrounding his head. He’s wearing a sports jersey, and holding a helmet at his right hip. His left hand is extended, inviting you in to the game.
I never knew Jesus was a football star. I’m not a football fan; truth be told I think the game is a disgusting waste of time and energy — but there’s something to that imagery. In an environment when religious strife is all too prevalent, these youth have created an image of Jesus they can relate to, and one that is completely different from every image we have seen before. It’s an image that challenges all definition, that violates all conventional boundaries. It’s an image of a youthful Jesus, just hanging out and playing a pick-up game with his friends.
And he wants you to join in. There’s room for you in the game. Whoever it is you happen to be.
I like it.
Political platform, other updates
Jan 29th
I’ve updated my political platform over here. As more issues develop, I’ll try and keep it updated. (I took out a lot of issues to make it more foundational, and am going to try and keep it to the most basic issues upon which others are based.)
Also, look for some new things in the next couple of days. I finally have a photo gallery almost functional, and now just have to blend it with the site’s look and feel.
Three more years
Jan 10th
The House today approved a measure to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 over the next three years. Over 80 Republicans joined the Democratic caucus in favor of the measure, a certain victory for Democratic Congressional control.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. $7.25 over three years means that when the wage is finally adopted — in the year 2010 — inflation will have grown to eat most of the buying power of the new wage. In three years time, the $2.10 increase may very well be the equivalent of up to $1 less.
There was a victory today — of this certain. But let’s not overblow it. This raise is long overdue, and by the time it is implemented, we will need to be discussing the next wage increase.
No shame
Jan 9th
Yet another example of mainstream Christianity missing the boat: GodTube. In the 1970’s, newly-educated pastors were encouraged to do “ministry in the bars,” since that’s where the people were. In the 2000’s, the ministry is online. And instead of using the power of the mass media, let’s make our own. C’mon. We can do better.
Does this chair come with an air sickness bag?
On one hand, I’m continually impressed at how the evangelical movement is growing. Generally speaking, it is our fundamentalist brethren who are creating such services as GodTube (along with copy-cats for MySpace and every other social networking site under the sun — or should that be Son?) and they are the fastest-growing subsect of Christianity. But their growth isn’t sustainable, and eventually the floor will fall out from under them.
In the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we hear the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, that his followers “are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” This analogy is generally accepted as a commandment to be in the world — not of the world — and witnessing through our lifestyle. So what does it demonstrate, then, in the creation of these Christian ghettos on the Internet?
What I think of in the midst of all of this is a young woman from a local church in my hometown when I was in high school. The church was independent fundamentalist, and many of the members were known of withdrawing from mainstream society. While growing up, the young woman was home-schooled, never permitted to listen to the radio or watch television, was forbidden from watching secular films or media. It was a completely sheltered environment. She made friends with this new young man who moved to town and joined her church — and I think some of you can figure out where the story goes from here. Since she had never been instructed as to what dating or sex was, she had no idea what was going on until she was pregnant. Her parents went into meltdown, they were cut off from their church home, and here she was — 17 and pregnant, about to be a single mother in her late teens.
“Pray to God, but row away from the rocks.” -Chinese proverb
I’m not sad to see you go
Jan 8th
Late last year, The Falls Church and Truro Church in suburban Fairfax, Virginia, voted to break away from the U.S. Episcopal Church to join a missionary diocese of the Anglican province in Nigeria. This article in the Washington Post from late last week assures me even more of how much I’m not sad to see them go.
Major schism has not yet uprooted the Anglican Communion — and even from the most technical of viewpoints, it has still yet to destroy the Communion, as parishes are realigning themselves but remaining in Communion — but my Lutheran side is used to this sort of thing. Little Mrs. Johnson sits six inches too far to the left and thus in someone else’s spot and whole families break away to start their own, new church.
From a theological perspective, both Falls and Truro are not aligned with the positions of the national church. It makes sense for them to leave and join a group which supports their belief. From a governance perspective, however what they and other former ECUSA parishes have done is intolerable and a greater threat to the Communion.
By definition, episcopal means “governed by Bishops.” It’s one of the first lessons a young (or young in faith) Anglican learns in J2A (Confirmation). Here in the U.S., that governance is also shared by the laity in a complex system of voting at General Assembly every three years. All parishes submit to the authority of their local Diocese by virtue of their constitution, and all Dioceses submit to the authority of General Assembly, vis a vis all parishes are bound together by the governance of General Assembly.
As a province of the international Anglican Communion, we agree to walk together as the American church, with other believers around the world. And where there is a province of Communion, other members do not set up missions as a matter of practice and principle. So, for example, the ECUSA isn’t setting up a mission in Toronto, Canada, as this would underskirt the authority of the Canadian province, the Anglican Church in Canada. Should such a thing happen, I suspect Canterbury would be getting involved right quick.
So why, then, is it “acceptable” for the parishes to leave the ECUSA and join the Nigerian church? And why are Bishops allowing this? I understand the desire to maintain Communion, but at what cost? Alternative Primateal Oversight (APO), as it is called, is a stark deviation from practice and tradition, and is a greater threat of schism than a handful of parishes breaking away and starting a new communion.
Since Falls and Truro have deviated from Anglican theology and are rejecting their governance, I’m not sad to see them go. But I wish they’d leave, instead of creating more problems in the process.