August 4, 2007

To My D...

My love, my life, my partner in all aspects of this life including this crazy journey that we are now on -Thank you for being a part of me -- thank you for letting me be a part of you.

Happy Birthday!

I love you

Forever

B

A Small Dilemma

There has been a request that I let our schedule be known beforehand rather than after the fact so that those wish to meet us can do so. If I were an organized person at the time, I could do that. However, I am a bit disheveled at this point, to say the least. :-) The schedule that I worked so dilegently on is about to be complete. This next Sunday we will be in Liberty Missouri at Grace Episcopal Church.

That is it. The extent of our schedule.

So, I have a request. We are in the process of trying to discern where we will go next. Share this blog with those you think may be interested. We are not tied down to any one direction. As I have been reminded, the majority of Episcopalians in this church are located in an easterly direction. So, east we are willing to go.

Right now we are recouping, rejuvenating at Rivendell, the Episcopal religious community that we belong to in the Diocese of West Missouri. (http://rivendellcommunity.org) It is good to be here. It is a time of rest, prayer and listening.

But we are ready to go. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
We can be reached through this blog or at bgclick@gmail.com.

A Point or Two to Note and File for Further Thought

One lesson for us to remember: this journey at this point is not about find where God is leading us as much as it is about finding out where God is not leading us.

Another thought is again about comfort - if we find too much comfort in one place, might we be enticed to stay too long?

A Bluebonnet in Texas

About the only news of which I have taken note over the past week was the passing of yet one more of Texas' great women. Ladybird Johnson left her Texas home this past Wednesday to rise on to glory. While I am certain that heaven is a better place for her presence, Texas has once again experienced a great sadness.
Lots of people remember Ladybird as the one who began the highway beautification plan. She is the reason that springtime highways in Texas are lined with bluebonnets and paintbrushes. Her ideas laid the groundwork for the lakeside, roadside, shoreline trash cleanups. She planted the seeds that began much of the environmental movement. More than that, she associated the idea that unchecked industrialization and growing urban poverty were partners. Not only did she work to eradicate urban blight within the nation's capitol, she actively promoted and campaigned for the The Wilderness Act if 1964 and the Scenic Rivers Program for the rest of the nation.
Next time you see a bluebonnet, remember her, but also remember that she cared about the entire nation - not about just planting a flower here and there, but about the people within the nation. It goes much deeper than just a pretty picture of little kids sitting in the middle of a field of bluebonnets. It speaks to the heart of the poverty issues.

Cowtown and Kenya?

Is there more than meets the eye in this welcome from Bishop Iker to the news of his friend, Canon Bill Atwood, rising to the level of missionary Bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya? Canon Atwood, as that missionary bishop, will minister to all the "those here in in the States who have been alienated from The Episcopal Church in recent years" - all those, that is, who aren't already being ministered to by the Church of Rwanda or Nigeria.

So, I wonder who those alienated ones will be? hmmm...let me think...do I venture a guess???

http://www.fwepiscopal.org/news/atwoodkenya.html

Integrity in Fort Worth - Finally!

No good thing will God withhold from those who walk with Integrity. Psalm 84:11

Well, we did it! The Board of Integrity met in Fort Worth this past weekend. And we had a service on the Feast of Justin Martyr with the Reverend Susan Russell, president of Integrity preaching and celebrating the Eucharist.

Hell did not freeze over; nor did the stars fall from the sky. But the Holy Spirit did dance amongst us!

The service was held at an awesome church on Pennsylvania Avenue - Celebration Community Church (www.celebration-community-church.com). Approximately 50 people were there to participate and to welcome the Board to Fort Worth. (more than in several diocesan parishes on any given Sunday morning). I won't embarrass the diocese by telling why we met there rather than in a local Episcopal parish.

I would like to thank every one of you who participated in so many different ways -The Folk Group at Trinity (y'all are awesome!!!!!!!!!); Susann and Marvin for the wonderful reception!!!!!!!!!; the Reverend Carol West and the congregation of CCC for sharing with us and to Lisette -- thank you for being with us! Most of all - all of you who came out and witnessed that night - thank you for your love and support. It is good to be a part of your community!

Many thanks to the entire Board of Integrity - what a great blessing to be a part of this dynamic group!

Shalom,

Barbi

APOLOGIA

The Feast of Justin Martyr

June 1, 2007 ~ Ft Worth, TX

On behalf of the Integrity Board it is truly an honor and a blessing to be here with you in the Diocese of Fort Worth this week. There is much on our agenda as we meet over these three days … and – I hope this isn’t “breaking news” – we actually DO have “an agenda.” And since it’s an Integrity Agenda you arguably COULD call it a “gay agenda” … but the truth is, it looks an awful lot like any OTHER church or not-for-profit Board agenda. We have budgets and financials to approve; action items to account for and strategic plans to implement. There are chapter and network reports and membership issues and database updates. It is mostly just plain old hard work … hard work that is holy work as it is all of it … every bullet point and press release and regional report and line item … offered in the service of this holy work to which we have been called … this living out of the Gospel in our day just as the saints throughout the ages have lived it out in theirs.

read the rest at Susan's blog - http://inchatatime.blogspot.com/

Holy Eucharist in Fort Worth

Integrity's national Board of Directors will be holding it's semi-annual meeting in Fort Worth on June 1st and 2nd. In conjunction with this meeting, Integrity/Fort Worth is sponsoring a Holy Eucharist on the Feast of Justin Martyr, June 1st, beginning at 8 pm.The service will be held at Celebration Community Church, 908 Pennsylvania Avenue, in downtown Fort Worth. All Integrity members and friends in the area are invited to attend.

Black Hole of Fort Worth

Check out my article at http://episcopalmajority.blogspot.com/2007/05/black-hole-of-fort-worth.html.

Posturing Imitators...

“The Presiding Bishop of this church has refused to accept the key recommendations of the Windsor Report, has failed to seek implementation of the essential requests of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué, and has denied basic tenets of the teaching of the New Testament. By her statements and actions, the course she wishes to pursue is clear: to lead TEC to walk apart from the Anglican Communion. This is a course we cannot follow. For all these reasons and others, we do not wish to be affiliated with her, nor with anyone she may appoint or designate to act on her behalf.”

My, my, isn’t Fort Worth special? Here they go again, making it clear that their boys’ club not only doesn’t want to play with the new girl but they don’t even want to be on the same block. So once again they are making a bold and broad statement that they are not only dissatisfied but they are going to do something about it. Like what? Stand around preening, patting themselves on the back and slapping each other on the butt? All in a manly way, don’t you know? Once again they have done nothing but blow pompous yet empty rhetoric.

Not only is it empty and pompous but it isn’t even accurate. What recommendations of the Windsor report has the Presiding Bishop refused to accept – the part about not crossing boundaries maybe? No, wait…that was the other guys. The part about listening? No, they already said that no clergy would be made to listen to the stories of a bunch of gays and lesbians. What essential request of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué has the Presiding Bishop failed to implement? She said she would take it to the House of Bishops and she did. There was nothing else that she could do – oh wait…I bet the people on the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Fort Worth were thinking that maybe she could make a mandate since that is the world they live in. What basic tenet of the teaching of the New Testament has she denied? Are they still foaming at the reference to “Mother” Jesus? Get a grip. Are they really that upset to think of a God so large that it is possible that someone could understand the idea of Jesus without having ever, ever heard about him?

Nitpickers…that’s what my grandmother would have called them. Picking at nits until there are festering pustules. Posturing, I call it. They are posturing, stalling for time in an attempt to take all the toys with them. It doesn’t matter how they try to change the diocesan constitution in November 2007. It doesn’t matter if they get the first vote then and the second vote in November 2008. It won’t matter because the constitution doesn’t belong to them…it belongs to the Diocese of Fort Worth and that diocese belongs to The Episcopal Church. Period.

Yes, he is...

Well, yesterday was a grand day indeed. I actually met Katharine Jefferts Schori. I even shook her hand. It would be good to tell you that I was able to get in a word about Fort Worth and Integrity. I would have liked to have said "As a member of the Board of Integrity, let me tell you how much we appreciate all that you are doing". It would have been great to even offer a suggestion as to how she might do more. However, that was not to be the case.

For those of you who know Tucker, well, you know that he is indeed Tucker as only Tucker can be. Being the fidgeter that he is, sitting in a chair waiting one hour for the ceremony to begin is just not within his capabilities. Of course, he had to go to the restroom. Being eleven years old, he is allowed to do that by himself. So he went.

He came back fifteen or so minutes later and all grins, his hand held out, palm up and said, "Do you want to touch this?" If you don't have an eleven year old boy in your life, let me give you warning - Always say No to that question and Never, ever reach out to grab the upheld hand. Trust me. There are few things on that hand that you would ever want transferred to your own skin. It is always best to just wait and listen rather than reach out and touch.

So, I merely stared at the palm, wondering what he had gotten in to now. Still grinning, he said…”I am never going to wash this hand.” So the questions began…Why? “Because I just shook hands with Katharine Jefferts Schori.” Wow! What did you say to her? “I told her that I was Tucker and that one of my mom’s is Barbi Click.” Cool! What happened then? (and no, they did not go on to talk about me…) “She asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I told her that I wanted to be a Paleontologist. She said that was awesome and that she used to be an oceanographer.”

About then the graduation ceremony began so we stood up.

Afterwards, there was a reception for all the graduates in the courtyard of St. Matthew’s. Somewhere, quickly melting into the crowd, Tucker disappeared. Knowing full well that he was on his way to find our Presiding Bishop once again, we set off to find him. Sure enough, I spotted him. In the process of reaching out to grab his arm, he was able to reach out further and faster to grab her arm. As I pulled on him and said, Tucker, no! she turned and saw him. She smiled at him and then looked up at me. “This one belongs to you, I presume?” Yes, I said and I introduced myself. She looked back at him and said, "Well, he is an amazing young man, isn’t he?” What could I do but agree with the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and Bishop to the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe? I just smiled and said, yes he is, thank you.

An aside from one of the parents of this “amazing young man” – I just learned that he scored a “commended” performance on his TAKS Science scores – 39 out of 40…

Coup d'Etat

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d'%C3%A9tat)
“A coup d'État (pronounced /ku de'ta/), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, often through illegal means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. It is also an example of political engineering. It may or may not be violent in nature. It is different from a revolution, which is staged by a larger group and radically changes the political system through unconstitutional means.”

Can the establishment of CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) within the geographical jurisdiction of The Episcopal Church and the consecration of Martyn Minns by “His Grace The Most Reverend Peter Jasper Akinola CON, DD Archbishop Metropolitan And Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)”, be seen as anything less that an attempted coup?