Yes Virginia, there are great and wise Bishops.

Having just come from meeting with Archbishop Suheil of the Episcopal Archdiocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East, I’m still trying to come to grips with what he said. Granted that’s a fairly normal experience after hearing bishops speak these days, only instead of the usual wave of despair and bewilderment I’m feeling full of hope. The future isn’t as bleak as the forces of darkness would have us believe.

++Suheil’s diocese spans five countries, themselves melting pots of different cultures, religions and traditions. In some parishes, such as those of Gaza, unemployment is as high as 75% - and has been at that level for generations. He ministers to congregations for whom suicide bombers pose a daily threat, and for whom the both the victims and perpetrators of these killings are not meaningless names inside a release from AAP/Reuters, but are the people they live with: the little boy from down the road, the mother who shops at the same stores they do, or the old man who sits sipping coffee at the corner on warm sunny days. Terror, in all its forms, is second nature to his homeland.

And yet the Bishop’s message was uplifting. “Peace is possible”, he said, “if we are committed to making it so.” Through operating schools (which are open to all irrespective of their religion), hospitals (from which the military not infrequently blocks medical supplies) and a cross-cultural program called “Kids for Peace”, he sees a future written in the faces of children growing up in the knowledge that “the others” really human after all. His confidence in Christ transcends the insecurity which drives so many of his colleagues elsewhere in the world to dogmatism and hatred.

Afterwards the Bishop’s wife explained the integral role women are have in this process: to put it bluntly (which she was far to polite to do) women have more equality in the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East than they do in Sydney.

No, GAFCON wasn’t dwelt upon. In the light of the Archbishop’s vision, and the darkness in which he and his community live, it all seemed irrelevant. There was no secret made about the fact that it’s not going to be helpful to the people of the area, regardless of the religion and/or cultural background, but in the light of where the church of the diocese wishes to go, and the mountains that must be climbed in order to reach that place, he made me realise that GAFCON will ultimately prove to be just one more brief gathering of angry wingnuts in a place which has proved historically irresistible to their ilk for millennia.

“Christians have lived in our diocese for two thousand years”, he said. “It is our land as much as it is everyone else’s. It is our calling to show how we can all live together in it, and to do so with the peace, compassion, wisdom and love of Christ.”

Amen.

Sorry.

Sorry

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

Ok, so maybe Shakespeare was going a little too far, but just now I'm not so sure. This morning I attended the intentionally phallic edifice pictured on the right in response to a rather nasty summons received a while back. It’s the “new” NSW Supreme Court: a building constructed as a result of the State Government’s decision “that the Supreme Court should be accommodated in a modern court house, under one roof instead of being spread, as it was, through a series of separate buildings, ill-fitted to the work and the dignity of the Court.” No, I haven't made that up: it’s lifted dirctly from their website. So stop laughing; they’re serious.

This “work and dignity” notwithstanding, on my scale of favourite activities appearing in court ranks somewhere between having my teeth filed to points and discussing astrology with people I mustn’t offend. Not that I was on trial for anything: it was a civil matter (people arguing about money), and while it would be contempt of court for me to describe the whole affair as rubbish, the word does keep springing into my mind. Along with some other more graphic expressions best kept to myself.

Things ended almost as I’d hoped they might: everyone agreed none of the companies involved in this mess (it was purely a business matter) owes anyone anything, and claims to the contrary were dismissed as garbage. Now the only remaining problem is deciding who should pay for the time wasted in deciding this was all a waste of time. Which was resolved in uniquely legal manner: it was decreed everyone must return in two weeks and waste more time.

Surely there’s got to be a better way? I’m certainly not advocating sharia law, or anything involving spiky balls attached to long chains, but can there really not be any better way of resolving disputes? And why does everyone have to wait around all day until it’s their turn to be heard? If garbage collectors and body piercers can work to a timetable, why can’t judges?

Or does asking questions like these pose a threat to somebody’s “work and dignity”?

The Parable of the Great Afternoon Tea

... a strange example of life imitating Scripture in which Caliban has been invited to sup with Lords...

Jesus' parable of "The Great Supper" (Lk 14:15-24) features a man inviting the poor and outcast to a feast after his original invitees spurn his offer of hospitality, and tomorrow afternoon something very similar is happening to this dubious blogger!

The Right Reverend Suheil Dawani, Archbishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem is currently in town - but in true Matthian tradition +Jensen and his clique of relatives and acolytes have snubbed him for reasons they have so far not deigned to explain.

Perhaps it's because His Grace has been less than enthusiastic about GAFCON (it would have been nice to ask the host before announcing a party in his house), perhaps because his vestments aren't "reformed" enough, or perhaps it's just because he's not one of the family, but for whatever reason His Grace's hosts are finding it hard to fil up his dance card. Which means they've really gone to bottom of the barrel and invited a member of the notorious Duck Noodle Gang along for a little tête à tête.

So sorry about the short notice, but what questions would everyone here like me to ask him? You know - things like "can we get a contact in the team who'll be doing GAFCON's catering?" or "how do we tip off customs that +Akinola will be attempting to smuggle in half a side of pork?" Or maybe even some serious stuff, since I'm not good at thinking that up for myself.



In the meantime here's a picture of the good gentleman to help get us all in the mood. Wonder whether he'll be wearing his hat? And was he able to take his crook on the plane as hand luggage, or did it have to travel in the hold along with all the other potentially dangerous luggage?

Caution Matthians: you won't like this song.

It's not exactly to my musical tastes, but the temptation to publicise anything seditious has always been more than I can resist. This little gem, called "The Ministry of 10% Pete", was passed on to me by someone who shall remain nameless:



I've honestly no idea who the composer or performer is - so if anyone does please contact me and they'll be suitably credited. Or they can stay anonymous if they'd prefer; I know what the machine's like ;-)

For those from other shores, "10% Pete" is a nickname our esteemed Archbishop has earned among certain wicked dissidents as a result of his vision of a 10% growth in church attendance over the next next ten years: we're currently halfway into the glorious vision for growth and numbers have actually declined in relation to Sydney's population. Still, praise God our diocese isn't declining like all the non-evangelicals are. They'll be soon be begging us to save them. Any day now, you can be sure. That's why everyone's devasted we're not going Lambeth, but someones got to make it clear to the world. And actually we're still growing, it's just that fewer people are coming along. Blah, blah, blah. Ad nauseum.

No, I can't follow the logic either. Judging by this song, someone else isn't buying into the Newspeak either. God bless 'em.

His Grace explains (a little) further...

Archbishop Peter Jensen has condescended to offer something by way of an explanation as to why he’s boycotting Lambeth. In a nutshell, it’s all the Americans’ fault: "We are not alone in this. Some of the largest Anglican communities in the world have taken the same decision." So we mustn’t blame Peter, ok? The big kids he's been playing with thought it all up, and Peter's just the little rich kid allowed to tag along because he buys everyone ice-creams after the game.

"We remain committed to the international Anglican communion." Right. Except for those people in the communion with whom we don’t agree, and we mustn’t go because they’re going. Otherwise people might think we support them. We’re committed, we just don’t want to be seen meeting anyone we don’t like. Or for our big friends to think we see any merit in talking things over with our opponents, instead of just hitting them like the tough kids do. But we’re committed to them. Honest we are. We just don’t want to show it.

"This is not a discourtesy to the Archbishop of Canterbury." Strange as it may sound, this part of the apologetic I can almost believe. Sure it may be as discourteous as you can get, but at least that it’s not intended as a discourtesy. When the Matthians want to show discourtesy they lay it on with a trowel – smears, insults and a sharpened carving-knife placed firmly in the victim’s back. No, the discourtesies have still to come, although some of the nastier Matthian bloggers are have already started warming their braziers.

The only real laugh is near the end: “... people, the media included, should not jump to wrong conclusions.” That +Jensen is used to media criticism is no surprise: but that he feels the need to qualify his statement to stress he really does include journalists within the broader category of “people” is telling. Remember, we’re not talking Fleet St or the National Enquirer here, but the country’s leading religious commentators. How honoured they must feel to know that, on this occasion at least, His Grace has deigned to consider them human. Now they’d better make damn sure they don’t view things differently to how they’ve been told to see it, or this new status could just as easily be revoked.

So Sydney really isn't going to Lambeth...

Among other things, ordinations are a celebration of the Church's unity. The laying on of hands is a continuation of an apostolic succession which unmistakably reminds us that we're all in this journey of faith together. Irrespective of whatever separation we may be currently experiencing as a result of time and space, in the kingdom which is both Now and Yet-To-Come we are one people.

Yet last Saturday +Jensen chose the occasion of an ordination service to announce Sydney won't be attending Lambeth this July. So much for unity: his message to the new Deacons is unmistakable: "Your allegiance is to Sydney and Sydney's dogma. Forget about any vision of the church which transcends either of these."

The machine's press release couldn't have been terser: read it for yourself if you're interested.

In response I'll be just as brief: +Jensen's timing is rude. Just sheer bloody rude. And ignorant.