Friday, July 25, 2014

Colleagues List, July 27th, 2014

Vol. X.  No. 2

*****

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telus.net

Colleagues List Web Site:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com

"Quicklinks" are included with many items
at the beginning of this issue. To get a more
complete picture, however, scroll down to
find your special selection in the body of
the blog. 

Note that not all items here have links.


*****


Dear Friends:

As my Special Item  this week I introduce
the book "Feisty and Fearless" - a life of Lois 
Wilson, notable Canadian citizen and church 
person. I thank Janice L Meighan of Toronto 
for writing this book and the people at the
United Church Centre in that city for sending
me a review copy.

http://www.ucrdstore.ca/feisty.html
http://tinyurl.com/o2l33sp
http://tinyurl.com/lt7s7c2

Scroll down for my book notice
--

Colleague Contributions - this week are from

Cameron Harder - on community-building
http://tinyurl.com/pdd6xsl
CameronHarder.com

Faith Nostbakken - on joint worship planning
http://tinyurl.com/mkw55nv

Dennis Greunding - on Gaza and Middle East peace
http://tinyurl.com/me2bjw6

Jim Taylor - on truth as a moving target and
lessons from gardening
http://tinyurl.com/l6axspg
http://tinyurl.com/nbhnl56

Martin Marty - on intolerance and violence
and Russian Orthodoxy
http://tinyurl.com/pa76nhz 
http://tinyurl.com/lrsx5pw

Ron Rolheiser - on suicide in the family
http://tinyurl.com/k7hmb2r

--

Net Notes -

"Nadine Gordimer Dies" - the South
African author was a strong witness
against racism (The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/lnxb2nq
http://tinyurl.com/nmgnk7r
http://tinyurl.com/num36nv

"Women and Wardrobe" - so much
appears today on women's dress and
our rape culture. Here's a 'Christian' take
on the subject (Christian Week online)
http://tinyurl.com/kkfl4qx

"Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices" - a 
woman of great experience is currently 
considering another run at the American 
presidency (The Tablet, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/nzyj6cr

"Current Events at the Vatican" - three
unique activities occurring this past week
(Faith Today, Irish Times, National 
Catholic Reporter)
http://tinyurl.com/l3qhyv7
http://tinyurl.com/mux7z6n
http://tinyurl.com/k74ecd4

"God, 'Please Let My Team Win'" - we
may roll our eyes when sports figures
engage in prayer but here is an
interesting reflection on the phenomenon
(Sightings) http://tinyurl.com/qx2bdmw

"Anglican Journal has New Editor" -
we welcome an experienced church
news writer to the AJ helm this week
(Anglican Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/nkj74u3

"Holy Land Bishop Decries the Strife" -
the Palestinian Lutheran bishop shares
his grief at developments in Gaza
(Lutheran World News)
http://tinyurl.com/kk7t7nw

"C of E Votes to Ordain Women Bishops" -
a historic event for a traditional church
signals an attempt to catch up with society
(BBC News, UCA News)
http://tinyurl.com/pdsgpbk
http://tinyurl.com/om6fyy5

"Who's Right and Wrong in the Middle East?" -
an insightful article on the complex, yet not
impossible situation involving Israel/Palestine
(New York Times) http://tinyurl.com/moovd5j

"Americans Cite Jesus in Healthcare Debate" -
this discussion would probably never happen
in Canada, but the USA is obviously different!
(The Christian Post) http://tinyurl.com/lk5gcn9

"Islam - Real Threat or Current US Scapegoat?" -
a helpful article on why Islam has become such
a big issue in American politics/the press today
(UCA News) http://tinyurl.com/kfdp5sw

"Reformation 500th Celebration Plans Unravel -
we have worried that insular thinking might
sink a significant anniversary in Germany,
and it would now appear that it has
(The Tablet, UK) http://tinyurl.com/nvdoof8

--

Wisdom of the Week -

Pope Francis, Rigoberta MenchĂș, Aung San Suu Kyi,
Rachel Carson, Vincent van Gogh and Herman Melville

- share their insights courtesy of Sojourners and
   the Bruderhof online.

Please scroll down for these quotes/

--

On This Day -

From the archives of the New York Times
selected from July 13th - 26th:

These stories are reported as they occurred -

Nicholas II family executed by the Bolsheviks
 http://tinyurl.com/kznsd64


Spanish Civil War Begins
 http://tinyurl.com/lg2h5xj


Austria Issues Ultimatum Leading to WWI
 http://tinyurl.com/lg2h5xj

--

Closing Thought - Don Marquis

I'll be back in touch with you two weeks 
from now, on August 9th.

Wayne

*********

SPECIAL ITEM

"FEISTY AND FEARLESS:
  Glimpses into the Life of Lois M. Wilson"
  by Janice L. Meighan
  United Church Publishing House, Toronto ON
  April, 2014. 327 pages. $26.95/$16.90 CAD
  Kindle edition $9.50 CAD
  ISBN #978-1-55134-214-6.

Publisher's Promo:

Meet the many sides of Lois M. Wilson:
Moderator, senator, minister, mother,
chancellor, activist, wife, canoeist,
feminist. Feisty and Fearless explores
the legacy of an accomplished, vibrant
public and religious leader, a woman
of firsts who shattered the stained-glass
ceiling. With access to Wilson and to her
unpublished papers, photographs, and
diaries, Janice Meighan has created an
authentic window into this remarkable
woman’s story, evolving views, and vision.
This book of stories will make you think,
laugh, and cheer. Feisty and Fearless is
a must-read for all Canadians.

Foreword by Lois Wilson (selections) -

When Janice Meighan first told me she wanted
to write a book about me, I told her I wanted it 
to focus on my ministry and not on me...

Additionally, I thought it might be helpful to 
present a slice of history to the church at a
time when we were searching for both roots
and wings...

Janice has done well on both counts and has
compressed mounds of meticulous research 
into a number of main themes.

Leadership in both church and society requires
awareness of the societal context for ministry,
and my life has been enriched enormously
through the gifts received from Canadians
inside and outside the church, as well as from
international companions in the peace movement,
the human rights movement, and the ecumenical
movement...

As I enter the home stretch, one scriptural text
echoes and re-echoes in me: "Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing, give thanks in all 
circumstances; for this is the will of God in
Christ for you" (I Thess. 5:16-18).

--

Author's Words (selections from the Preface) -

Like many secularized Christians, I didn't grow
up in the church - my family never attended
and only celebrated Easter and Christmas
traditions. At age 25, after a year or two of
church shopping, I walked into a United Church
and stayed.

(From the start, I was impressed by the life
and witness of Lois Wilson, and eventually I
decided to write a book about her).

This is the first book to take a critical look at this 
little-known but remarkable woman who with
one foot in each camp wove the religious, the
secular and the political throughout her life...

Lois is unique in her understanding of a Christian
ecumenism that incorporates multi-religious
and non-religious pluralism... her daring example
could be a guide for all Canadians at this time...

She gave me 11 interviews spanning the years
2008 to 2013 and I have read almost everything
she has ever written - both published and un-
published - and watched many hours of media
interviews made by her.

I attended her 85th birthday celebration in 2012...

Lois helps shatter stained-glass ceilings to become
"a woman of firsts." She becomes the first
president of the Canadian Council of Churches,
and then the first Moderator of the United Church,
as well as a president of the World Council of
Churches... Many women and men are indebted
to Lois's trailblazing efforts, and some have felt
the sting of her views and leadership as she
breaks through the religious patriarchy...

(She served in the Canadian Senate in Ottawa 
from 1998 to 2002 and retired at age 75)...

My hope is that however you choose to read
this book, you will find a window into the life
of this great Canadian, one who has done an
enormous amount of good in our world.

--

My Thoughts:

I have experienced Lois Wilson on two separate
occasions and would like to share them here.

Twenty-five years ago I was interviewing for 
an ecumenical, mission-related administrative 
position in Toronto and Lois was one of those 
conducting the interview. I didn't get the job
but Lois must have sensed that personal and
vocational problems were going on in my life
at the time. After the interview, she expressed
an interest in inviting me for breakfast before
I headed back on a long and lonely trip to
Calgary. I don't remember much of what was
said but I won't forget the pastoral support
she offered me at a time I really needed it.

Fifteen years ago, and as a representative
of the Gandhi Society of Calgary, I had the
opportunity to introduce her to our annual
dinner which usually featured a peacemaker 
in the spirit of the Mahatma. In the course
of getting some current background for
the introduction, I learned she had just
returned from a trip to the DPR (North
Korea) as part of her service as chair of
the Canada-DPR Korea Association. I
reminded her of our previous encounter
(which she recalled) and of how I was glad
to be able to welcome her to Calgary under
happier circumstances for me!

A pastoral and a peace-making set of
experiences - but in both I encountered
the same kind of person in Lois Wilson
that I am now being introduced to in
Janice L. Meighan's valuable book. 

While the circumstances and issues under
consideration were considerably different,
the person with whom I was dealing was
much the same. No nonsense but deeply
compassionate - is a way I have experienced
Lois. This is also the person portrayed in a
great variety of circumstances as described 
in Feisty and Fearless.

As Meighan describes it, the chapters follow
a chronological approach as Lois's life evolved,
but they are also thematic.  The author uses a
story-telling format that I find most engaging.

The first two chapters describe the first
forty years of her life. Married to Roy, also
a United Church minister, she grew unsatisfied
with being confined to the roles of minister's
wife and mother and sought out broader ways 
to serve in both community and church.

Her journey to ordination as a woman pioneer -
at a time when few were brave enough to
function in a highly patriarchal era - is quite
enlightening for those of us who live at a
different though not all that removed time.

Chapter three tells of how Lois began to
to work 'with a foot in both church and
society' simultaneously.

Chapters four and five relay how she 
became an early woman leader in her own 
denomination and in several significant 
national and international ecumenical 
organizations.

Chapter six recounts some of her many
friends and associates from over the years;
and seven tells of how her life blended religion
and national  politics. She was proud of her 
appointment to the Canadian senate and saw 
it as a high point of her career.     

The final chapter provides Lois with an
opportunity to reflect on her life, her vocation,
and on her beloved church. She describes her
joys as well as her regrets. She is no less
willing to whitewash parts of her own story,
even as she observed others. In this
chapter I see the no-nonsense person 
of compassion I have discovered myself.

--

I like to collect and read biographies and
autobiographies ranging from heroic
figures like Nelson Mandela to hardly-
known figures  in remote places. I will
treasure this book  and return to it
often because I see in it glimpses of
the person I might have become if
circumstances in my own life had been
different.

This is a book I recommend and I
thank Janice L. Meighan for writing it. 
                                        
--

Buy the Trade Paper Edition from:
United Church Resource Distribution
http://www.ucrdstore.ca/feisty.html

Buy the book from Chapters Indigo:
http://tinyurl.com/o2l33sp

Kindle Edition of the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/lt7s7c2


*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

CAMERON HARDER
Saskatoon, SK

Professor, Systematic Theology
Executive Director of the Centre for 
Rural Community Leadership 
Lutheran Theological Seminary
University of Saskatchewan

Alban Weekly
July 20th, 2014

"Discovering the Other"
  http://tinyurl.com/pdd6xsl

Note his website:
CameronHarder.com

--

FAITH NOSTBAKKEN
Edmonton, AB

Anglican Journal 
July 21st, 2014

"Anglican/Lutheran Worship Conference at the
  Edmonton Providence Catholic Retreat Centre"
  http://tinyurl.com/mkw55nv

--

DENNIS GREUNDING
Ottawa, ON.

UC Observer Online
July 24th 2014

"The Gaza War - History Does Matter"

  The Middle East's cycle of violence and retaliation  
   can only be ended through negotiations - 

   http://tinyurl.com/me2bjw6

   See also the 'Net Notes' article posted below:
    "Who's Right and Wrong in the Middle East?"
   
--

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC


Personal Weblog
July 15th, 2014

July 23rd, 2014

"Truth as a Moving Target" 
  http://tinyurl.com/l6axspg

"Roots and Branches"
  http://tinyurl.com/nbhnl56

--

MARTIN MARTY
Chicago. IL


Sightings
July 14th, 2014

July 21st, 2014

"Intolerance and Violence"
  http://tinyurl.com/pa76nhz

"Russian Orthodoxy"
  http://tinyurl.com/lrsx5pw

--

RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

Personal Website
July 20th, 2014

"Suicide - Reclaiming the 
  Memory of Our Loved One"   
  http://tinyurl.com/k7hmb2r

*****

NET NOTES

NADINE GORDIMER DIES

"Her Obituary"
The Guardian, UK
July 14th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/lnxb2nq

"A Tribute by Margaret Atwood"
The Guardian, UK
July 14th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/nmgnk7r

"Five Must-Read Gordimer Books"
The Guardian,
July 15th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/num36nv

--

WOMEN AND THE WARDROBE
Moving Beyond Objectification

Christian Week
July 15th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/kkfl4qx

--

HILLARY CLINTON'S HARD CHOICES
Review of her Recent Book

The Tablet, UK
July 25th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/nzyj6cr

--


CURRENT EVENTS AT THE VATICAN

"Evangelicals and the Pope"

Faith Today,
July/August, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/l3qhyv7

"Pope and Curia Not on Same Page"

Irish Times
July 19th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/mux7z6n

"Apostate Sudanese Woman Meets Pope"

National Catholic Reporter
July 24th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/k74ecd4

--

GOD, "PLEASE LET MY TEAM WIN"

Sightings
July 17th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/qx2bdmw

--

ANGLICAN JOURNAL HAS NEW EDITOR
Marites (Tess) Sison Very Experienced


Anglican Journal
July 15th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/nkj74u3

--

HOLY LAND BISHOP DECRIES THE STRIFE
Palestinian Lutheran Shares Grief


Lutheran World News
July 17th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/kk7t7nw

--

C of E VOTES TO ORDAIN WOMEN BISHOPS
"Brings Church More in Step With Society"

BBC News
July 14th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/pdsgpbk

UCA News
July 15th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/om6fyy5

--

WHO'S RIGHT AND WRONG 
IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
Complex Conflict Has Been 
Hijacked by the Hardliners

New York Times
July 20th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/moovd5j

--

AMERICANS CITE JESUS
IN HEALTHCARE DEBATE
RCs and Protestants Say

Jesus Supports Obamacare

The Christian Post
Juy 26th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/lk5gcn9

--

ISLAM - REAL THREAT OR 
CURRENT US SCAPEGOAT?
American Scholar Takes a 
Long Look at History

UCA News
July 23rd, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/kfdp5sw


--

REFORMATION 500th CELEBRATION
PLANS BEGIN TO UNRAVEL
German Catholics Feel

Protestant "Slap in the Face"

The Tablet, UK
July 18th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/nvdoof8

*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK

Provided by Sojourners and Bruderhof Online

 "Inequality is the root of social evil."

- Pope Francis

--

"The Bible has been used as a way of
making us  accept our situation, and not
to bring enlightenment to the poor."


- Rigoberta MenchĂș

--

"It is undeniably easier to ignore the hardships
of those who are too weak to demand their
rights than to respond sensitively to their needs.
To care is to accept responsibility, to dare to act
in accordance with the dictum that the ruler is
the strength of the helpless."

- Aung San Suu Kyi

--

I am not afraid of being thought a sentimentalist
when I say that I believe natural beauty has a
necessary place in the spiritual development of
an individual or a society.  I believe that whenever
we destroy beauty, or whenever we substitute
something manmade and artificial for a natural
feature of the earth, we have retarded some part
of our spiritual growth.


- Rachel Carson

--

Let us go forward quietly, forever making
for the light, and lifting up our hearts in the
knowledge that we are as others are (and
that others are as we are), and that it is right
to love one another in the best possible way –
believing all things, hoping for all things, and
enduring all things…And let us not be too
troubled by our weaknesses, for even he who

has none, has one weakness, namely that he
thinks he has none, and anyone who believes
himself to be so perfect or wise would do well
to become foolish all over again.

- Vincent van Gogh


-

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand
fibers connect us with our fellow-men; and along
those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions
run as causes, and come back to us as effects."

- Herman Melville

*****

ON THIS DAY
June 13th - 26th

From the Archives of the New York Times

"Nicholas II Family Executed by the Bolsheviks "
  http://tinyurl.com/kznsd64

"Spanish Civil War Begins"
   http://tinyurl.com/lg2h5xj

"Austria Issues Ultimatum Leading to WWI"
  http://tinyurl.com/k9z5odh

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - DON MARQUIS

"When a man tells you that he got rich
  through hard work, ask him whose."


(end)



Sunday, July 13, 2014

Colleagues List, July 13th, 2014

Vol. X.  No. 1

*****

GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE

Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telus.net

Colleagues List Web Site:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com

"Quicklinks" are included with many items
at the beginning of this issue. To get a more
complete picture, however, scroll down to
find your special selection in the body of
the blog. 

Note that not all items here have links.


*****


Dear Friends:

Welcome to the first issue of Volume 10
of Colleagues List! I think you have a good
experience in store.

My Special Item is provided by colleague
Mathew Zachariah. I introduced  him to
many of you in November, 2010 when
he wrote an article entitled "My Search
for My Great-Grandfather" - who had
been a Church Mission Society (Anglican) 
archdeacon in Kerala State, India.

Please click this link and scroll down into
the body of that blog issue:

http://tinyurl.com/kks45bz

Then, in April of last year I provided you with
a book notice for "Making Anew My Home,"
Mathew's  autobiography of life transitions
from a colonial youth in India to an emeritus
professor of education and global development
studies at the University of Calgary.

http://tinyurl.com/mggod7u

Through all those years, Mathew has been a
faithful Christian. He continues that practice
with a feature article in this issue, which he
entitles "Filioque." It is a testimony to how
his Anglican faith helped him bridge the
rather significant challenges he faced as
he moved from India to North America and
from ancient to modern Christian community.

http://mathewzachariah.com/

Please scroll down to read his short article
and my links to related themes.

--

Colleague Comments this week are from:

Kelly Johnson - "The Shia-Sunni Divide"
http://tinyurl.com/pl93xyn

Herb O'Driscoll - "The Disruption Machine"
http://tinyurl.com/mszbkpm

Scroll down to read their personal comments.

--

Colleague Contributions this week are from:


Jim Taylor who writes on "Yesterdays"
http://tinyurl.com/m623fs6


Martin Marty who offers two pieces -
"Catholics Reject Church Teachings on Sex"
  http://tinyurl.com/kxc9mtm (and)

"Prayer Meetings in Leipzig"
  http://tinyurl.com/okp9xpb while -

Ron Rolheiser provides -
"Disciples With Many Faces"
  http://tinyurl.com/qznwlg2

--

Net Notes:

"American Pariah" - a current but critical
study of Mormon founder Joseph Smith
(New York Times Review of Books)
http://tinyurl.com/q46sko6

"Never Forget, Never Tell" - an
Armenian American's reflections
after her first visit to Turkey
(The Christian Century)
http://tinyurl.com/lq46fse

"Bible Engagement Declines" - this
article describes a gradual reduction
in Canadian biblical consciousness
(Christian Week)
http://tinyurl.com/mkocxy3

"'Jesus Wept' Over Brazil's Defeat" -
a humorous depiction of the Christ
overlooking Corcovado at Rio
(Huffington Post Religion)
http://tinyurl.com/mtsz8w9

"Francis Meets With U.S. TV Evangelists" -
another article describing how the current
pope is reaching out to non-Catholics
(Religious News Service)
http://tinyurl.com/mkbw4vq

"Pope Calls Sex Abuse 'Sacrilegious Cult'" -
Francis continues to pull no punches when
it comes to a much needed clarification
(America/Religious News Service, and
Commonweal) http://tinyurl.com/nrck9sr
http://tinyurl.com/qfrblex
http://tinyurl.com/lc9d4g7

"Religion the Answer to World's Problems" -
many Americans still believe that their
faith traditions will solve major challenges
(The Christian Post)
http://tinyurl.com/muhzwn4

"Christians Facing Increased Risks in China" -
a penetrating article on the Chinese irony -
growing persecution and growing conversions
(Globe and Mail) http://tinyurl.com/m8p9ygy

"Renewed Energy in Anglican/Lutheran Churches" -
a hopeful story of Lutheran and Anglican unity
on both sides of the Can/USA international border
(Anglican Journal) http://tinyurl.com/nut347z

"Charter of Rights, Universal Healthcare Unite Canada" -
Canadians continue to see their identity associated
with two symbols of national pride and confidence
(The Canadian Press) http://tinyurl.com/l9oxk9v

--

Wisdom of the Week - comes to us from -

Mary McCarthy, Abraham Lincoln, Dorothy Day.
Nellie McClung, Mother Teresa, Max Lerner and
Kahlil Gibran.

Scroll down to them.

--

On This Day:

The New York Times archives provide articles
from June 29th to July 12th -

"British return Hong Kong to China after 156 years"
  http://tinyurl.com/pf6xaxq

"Battle of Britain by German Luftwaffe Begins"
  http://tinyurl.com/mrvkkf9

--

Our Closing Thought  this week is short and snappy -
and comes from Archibald MacLeish. Scroll down.

Thanks for helping me to make good use of warm,
lazy, summer days. See you again in two weeks.

Wayne

(end)

*******

SPECIAL ITEM
From a Colleague

"FILIOQUE"
  by Mathew Zachariah

  Calgary, Alberta

I was baptized in my father’s ancestral
church, The Orthodox Syrian Church in
Vanchithrain the village of Thekkemala in
central Kerala, India. But I almost always
attended Anglican churches because of my
mother’s strong Anglican (Church Missionary
Society or CMS) roots and because I grew up
with my CMS adoptive parents in Alapuzha
(a coastal town in Kerala) and attended the
Anglican Christ Church there.

When I visited my mother in our ancestral
paternal home in Hekkemala in my youth for
holidays, I accompanied her and attended the
Orthodox Church. In the Orthodox tradition,
the Lay Leader recites aloud and from memory
the Nicene Creed and the congregants affirm
the creed’s truth by saying "Ameen" (Amen)
at intervals. On rare occasions when the Nicene
Creed was recited in the CMS church in the
1940s and early 1950s (because we recited
the Apostle’s Creed most of the time), the
priest and the congregation read aloud that
Creed from the translated Book of Common
Prayer (BCS) in Malayalam, the language of
Kerala. I could not have realized then that
the Nicene Creed recited in the CMS Church
had the "filioque."

What is filioque? In Latin it means “and the
son.” According to one of many sources I
consulted (Orthodox Wiki found with the
help of Google): “[Filioque] was added to
the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed by the
Church of Rome in the 11th century, one of
the major factors leading to the Great Schism
between East and West. [Some scholars claim
that the filioque has been present in earlier
documents]. This inclusion in the Credal article
regarding the Holy Spirit thus states that the
Sprit proceeds from the Father and the Son.”
(Bold italics in the original). The Anglican
Church accepted the tradition handed down
from Rome in the matter of this creed.

We cannot tarry to examine the fascinating
filioque controversy here. Let us note that
on page 71 of the Book of Common Prayer
(1962, Canada) the filioque is present,
although it is not identified as the Nicene
Creed. But, most of us do not know that
The Book of Alternative Services (BAS) of
the Anglican Church of Church of Canada
(copyright 1985) has chosen to extend the
hand of rapprochement to the Orthodox
churches. On page 176 of BAS we read thus:
“The words “and the son” (filioque) have been
removed from the Nicene Creed in accordance
with the Lambeth 1978 Statement: The
conference… [based on the work of the
Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal
Commission] requests that all member
Churches of the Anglican Communion should
consider omitting the Filioque from the Nicene
Creed…” It goes on to say that “the omission
of the filioque does not imply a change of
doctrine or belief on the part of the Anglican
Church.”

When I was doing research for the “My Christian
Faith” chapter in my book "Making Anew My
Home: A Memoir" (friesenpress.com, 2014), I
read with sadness in the second 2001 edition
of the World Christian Encyclopedia that: “Of
all Christians, 1,888 millions are church members
affiliated to 6 major ecclesiastico-cultural
megablocs [such as the Anglicans], also some
300 different ecclesiastical traditions, also
33,820 distinct Christian denominations across
the world.” In 2014, the number of divisions
would have certainly increased based on major
or minor differences, thus making our Lord’s
devout wish “That they may all be one” an even
more remote possibility.

Yet, I – shaped by both the Eastern and
Western church traditions – am pleased
with the Canadian Anglican Church’s
significant contribution to church unity
in its doctrinal teaching and modern services.

---

Mathew's story and book -
"Making Anew My Home" Friesen (2013)
http://mathewzachariah.com/

Read about the Malabar Christians
of Kerala State, South India:
http://tinyurl.com/o2wlcmr

Read about the Church Mission Society
including the work in Kerala State:
http://tinyurl.com/pfqq8lh

Read about the filioque controversy
in the broad sweep of Christian history
http://tinyurl.com/ok7t86c

*****

COLLEAGUE COMMENT

KELLY JOHNSON
Calgary, AB


Personal E-Mail
July 8th, 2014

Wayne:

I found this article on current
events in Iraq to be very helpful.

Kelly

Globe and Mail
June 26th, 2014


"Shia-Sunni Divide:
 Iraq's Deadly Sectarian War"


http://tinyurl.com/pl93xyn

--

HERB O'DRISCOLL
Victoria, BC

Personal E-Mail
July 2nd, 2014

Friends

You may already be aware of this article.

I think you will find it a worthwhile read.
Particularly interesting re the life of the
church  are the two paragraphs on page
35 beginning "Disruptive innovation as  
an explanation for how things happen is
everywhere..." but the whole article will
be of interest in many settings, and, of
course, as with all things, you will find
some things you agree with and some
things otherwise! C'est la vie...

Blessings,
Herb


The New Yorker
June 23rd, 2014

"The Disruption Machine"
  What the gospel of innovation gets wrong


http://tinyurl.com/mszbkpm

*****

COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC


Weblog
July 9th,2014


"Yesterdays"

http://tinyurl.com/m623fs6

--

MARTIN MARTY
Chicago, IL

Sightings
June 30th, 2014


"Catholics Reject Church Teachings on Sex"

http://tinyurl.com/kxc9mtm

Sightings
July 7th, 2014

"Prayer Meetings in Leipzig"

http://tinyurl.com/okp9xpb

--

RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

Personal Website
July 6th, 2014

"Disciples With any Faces"

http://tinyurl.com/qznwlg2

*****

NET NOTES

AMERICAN PARIAH
Critical Assessment of Joseph Smith


New York Times Review of Books
July 6th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/q46sko6

--

NEVER FORGET, NEVER TELL
Armenian American’s Dilemma of

Memory on Her First Visit to Turkey

The Christian Century
June 23rd, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/lq46fse

--

BIBLE ENGAGEMENT DECLINES
Scripture Lost to Canadians

Christian Week
June 25th,2014

http://tinyurl.com/mkocxy3

--

'JESUS WEPT' OVER BRAZIL'S DEFEAT
Soccer Loss to Germany Felt Profoundly


Huffington Post Religion
July 9th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/mtsz8w9

--

FRANCIS MEETS WITH U.S. TV EVANGELISTS
Pope Discovers Common Cause With Them


Religious News Service
July 9th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/mkbw4vq

--

POPE CALLS SEX ABUSE 'SACRILEGIOUS CULT'
Meets With Victims of Some Priests, Bishops


America/Religious News Service (Video)
July 9th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/nrck9sr

"'Despicable Actions' Hidden Far too Long"
   America/Catholic News Service (Text)

   July 9th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/qfrblex

"Bishops Who Mishandled Abuse are Accountable"
  Commonweal
  July 7th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/lc9d4g7

--

RELIGION THE ANSWER TO WORLD'S PROBLEMS
Majority of Americans Claim This in Gallop Poll


The Christian Post
July 9th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/muhzwn4

--

CHRISTIANS FACING INCREASED RISKS IN CHINA
Communist Party Cracks Down on Free Speech


Globe and Mail
July 4th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/m8p9ygy

--

RENEWED ENERGY
IN ANGLICAN/LUTHERAN CHURCHES
Four Bodies in Canada/USA Reflect Together

Anglican Journal
June 4th, 2014

http://tinyurl.com/nut347z

--

CHARTER OF RIGHTS,
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE UNITE CANADA
Poll Finds Canadians Most Agreed

on These Defining Characteristics

The Canadian Press
June 30th, 2014


http://tinyurl.com/l9oxk9v


*****

WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners, Bruderhof  Online

"A good deal of education consists of unlearning -
the breaking of bad habits as with a tennis serve."


- Mary McCarthy

--

"Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage
and you prepare your own limbs to wear them.
Accustomed to trample on the rights of others,
you have lost the genius of your own independence
and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant
who rises among you."


- Abraham Lincoln

--

Satisfaction can turn into satiety. A person can
start out aiming to be righteous and end up
self-righteous; we walk around quite pleased
with ourselves. We run the risk of thinking we’re
God’s gift to humanity, those of us who struggle
to be loyal to him. But that’s the worst sin possible:
the sin of pride.

- Dorothy Day


--

"Chivalry is a poor substitute for justice, if one
cannot have both. Chivalry is something like the
icing on the cake, sweet but not nourishing."

- Nellie McClung

--

It is not how much we are doing but how much
love, how much honesty, how much faith is put
into doing it. It makes no difference what we
are doing. What you are doing, I cannot do, and
what I am doing, you cannot do. Only sometimes
we forget and we spend more time looking at
somebody else and wishing we were doing
something else. We waste our time thinking
of tomorrow, and today we let the day pass,
and yesterday is gone.

- Mother Teresa


--

"In the end, as any successful teacher will tell you,
you can only teach the things that you are. If we
practice racism then it is racism we teach."


- Max Lerner

--

There are those who give little of the much which
they have – and they give it for recognition and their
hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And
there are those who have little and give it all. These
are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and
their coffer is never empty. There are those who give
with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are
those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.


And there are those who give and know not pain in
giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness
of virtue; they give as in yonder valley the myrtle
breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands
of such as these God speaks, and from behind their
eyes he smiles upon the earth.

- Kahlil Gibran


*****

ON THIS DAY

June 29th- July 12th
From the Archives of the New York Times

"British return Hong Kong to China after 156 years"
  http://tinyurl.com/pf6xaxq

"Battle of Britain by German Luftwaffe Begins"
 
http://tinyurl.com/mrvkkf9

*****

CLOSING THOUGHT - Archibald MacLeish

"A man who lives, not by what he loves
  but what he hates, is a sick man."


(end)