June 23, 2006

• well... i finally got the letter to Bishop Councell written....  i was pleased with it, mostly, but think that i could have expanded more on what my main topic was if i had not had the preamble....

  
  

  "In Sunday School, my class for 7th and 8th graders, we discussed the Feast of Pentecost.  Although I am confident they had heard the story before, the students seemed unsure when I asked them about the events of that day, so long ago.  And so, we went over that story, familiar to me but fresh to them, and they were surprised to realize that there was a connection between the resurrection of Jesus, and the 'what came next' (their words) of Pentecost.  They had never made the connectioin between the physical death of Jesus and the birth of the Church.  One of the students said she had always wondered what had come after Easter, and so we talked about the book of Acts.

  
  

  This has made me wonder, however, about the disconnect.  Bishop Spong, in answering a question posed to him via email, qna@johnshelbyspong.com , gave me a clue.  Although the question asked of him, 'So it seems you're pointing to a global movement or alliance distinct from Christianity that is too exclusive.  Will it have a name?', is a little of point, the Bishop's response seems à propos, 'I must be a 21st century Christian. That means I have to force my Christian faith into the thought forms dictated by the 21st century... I draw a distinction betwen the experience of God and the explanation of that experience.  The experience of God is, I beleive, both real and timeless.  The explanation of that experience, however, is always time bound and time warped.  Explanations, because they are always wedded to their time will also inevitably die.  That should be expected.'

  
  

  It is not that the students were not taught about Pentecost; it was that they could not hear.  We need to be less afraid that our faith will not withstand a change in perspective -- when we discuss the Creation in my class, we discuss it in terms of the Big Bang, but there is never any question about the identity of the Creator.  I do take issue with Bishop Spong's assertion that one's faith must change, but i do concur that the expression of that faith must become more relevant, in discourse if not in worship."

  
  

  that's the letter.  since Bishop Spong is very controversial in the Episcopal church, and since i admitted to teaching Christianity explained through science, we'll see what Bishop Councell has to say about that .... *sigh*  and sweet_acid_rain, that's about as close to poking a bishop with a stick as i would like to come....

  • 11:57 am
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