Razor Planet



The Apostles Post

Church of the Holy Apostles

26238 North Highway 59

Wauconda, Illinois

(847)526-7148

hapostles@

FROM THE VICAR'S DESK

(M. C. Gillette)

"Turning to his disciples, Jesus said, 'I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult to maintain focus when it's so hot and humid. I think we should take the next three months off. We can meet up in Bethany in September and start our new program year then.' And they all agreed."

OK, Jesus clearly didn't have the above conversation. But the way we as the church act sometimes, you might be forgiven for assuming he did.

I noticed the other day that a colleague of mine had asked folks to respond to this question on her Facebook wall: "Why go to church in the summer?" The answers ranged across the board. Some were plain: "Habit." Some were pedantic: "All persons within this Church shall celebrate and keep the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday, by regular participation in the public worship of the Church, by hearing the Word of God read and taught, and by other acts of devotion and works of charity, using all godly and sober conversation." (This from the canons of the Episcopal Church, General Convention of 1914.) Some were perplexed: "Wouldn't the reasons be the same regardless of the season?" Some were crabby: "Going to church is not a seasonal activity." Some were clever: "Because there's nothing better to do. Literally."

I didn't respond to the inquiry ("Because I'm paid to" didn't seem like a helpful answer), but it did make me wonder. Do we (as the church in general) reduce services, cut programs, postpone meetings, and delay various activities because there are fewer people in attendance in the summer? Or are there fewer people in attendance in the summer because we reduce services, cut programs, postpone meetings, and delay various activities? True, many people travel in the summer. But many people travel in the rest of the year, too – it's a rare Sunday when we don't offer travel prayers at Holy Apostles for a business trip to Beijing or a winter get-away to Arizona, or whatever. And no matter what season of the year, for each one of us who journeys there, someone from there is probably on his or her way here – at least theoretically, therefore, visitors should compensate for regulars who are away. The weather is nice in the summer, and people want to be outside. But the weather is not as nice the rest of the year, and people do not want to go to church when it's raining ice, or still dark at 7 a.m. There's a lot to do in the summer – picnics, baseball, beach, lingering on the deck with a glass of wine after dinner. But there's a lot to do in the winter, too – pizza parties, basketball, snowmobiles, lingering in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate after dinner.

Everyone needs the occasional change of pace – the different perspective, the break from routine, the new way of seeing, rejuvenation for the body, refreshment for the mind, restoration for the spirit. And I personally believe that means everyone needs the occasional Sunday spent watching the sun rise over the ocean, or sitting in bed with a good book, eating Cheetos for breakfast, or doing whatever it is they find appealing. But we also need to remember that the world doesn't necessarily change when we ignore it for a day. There's just as much hunger in the summer (maybe more – if you get a free lunch at school in January, what do you eat in July?), just as much poverty, homelessness, want and need. There's just as much fear in the summer, just as much violence, vindictiveness, anxiety and desperation. There's just as much loneliness in the summer, just as much rejection, isolation, pain and pride. There's just as much injustice in the summer, just as much arrogance and oppression, prejudice and greed.

Therefore, there's just as much need to 'be church' in the summer – just as loud a call to love and serve, just as loud a call to spread, through word and action, the good news about the Spirit of God which offers an alternative vision to that which the Spirit of the World would have us see, just as loud a call to practice joy and thankfulness, to praise, to pray, to listen, to advocate, to be present with and for each other, to live into the fullness of our baptismal vows, to live into the fullness of our humanity. And to be church, it helps to go to church. As Holy Apostles, I know you'll be intentional about doing both – whatever the season.

| UPCOMING SERVICES – CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES – JUNE 2012 |

|Sunday |Sunday |Sunday |Sunday |

|03 June |10 June |17 June |24 June |

|8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |

|TRINITY SUNDAY | |BAPTISM at 8 a.m. | |

| | |FATHERS' DAY | |

|Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |

|Presider: |Presider: |Presider: |Presider: |

|Gillette |Gillette |Gillette |Gillette |

|Preacher: |Preacher: |Preacher: |Preacher: |

|Gillette |Murray |Gillette |Gillette |

|Deacon: |Deacon: |Deacon: |Deacon: |

|None |None |None |None |

|1st Sunday after |2nd Sunday after |3rd Sunday after |4th Sunday after |

|Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |

| |Proper 5 |Proper 6 |Proper 7 |

|FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |

|Isaiah |Genesis |Ezekiel |Job |

|6:1-8 |3:8-14 |17:22-24 |38:1-11 |

| | | | |

|RESPONSE |RESPONSE |RESPONSE |RESPONSE |

|Canticle |Psalm |Psalm |Psalm |

|13 |130 |92:1-4, 11-14 |107:1-3, 23-32 |

| | | | |

|SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |

|Romans |2 Corinthians |2 Corinthians |2 Corinthians |

|8:12-17 |4:13-5:1 |5:6-17 |6:1-13 |

| | | | |

|GOSPEL |GOSPEL |GOSPEL |GOSPEL |

|John |Mark |Mark |Mark |

|3:1-17 |3:20-35 |4:26-34 |4:35-41 |

|UPCOMING SERVICES – CHURCH OF THE HOLY APOSTLES – JULY 2012 |

|Sunday |Sunday |Sunday |Sunday |Sunday |

|01 July |08 July |15 July |22 July |29 July |

|8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 10:30 a.m. |8 & 100 a.m. |

|Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |Scheduled Clergy |

|Presider: |Presider: |Presider: |Presider: |Presider: |

|Gillette |Johnson |Gillette |Gillette |Gillette |

|Preacher: |Preacher: |Preacher: |Preacher: |Preacher: |

|Gillette |Johnson |Gillette |Gillette |Gillette |

|Deacon: |Deacon: |Deacon: |Deacon: |Deacon: |

|None |None |None |None |None |

|5th Sunday after |6th Sunday after |7th Sunday after |8th Sunday after |9th Sunday after |

|Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |Pentecost (B) |

|Proper 8 |Proper 9 |Proper 10 |Proper 11 |Proper 12 |

|FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |FIRST LESSON |

|Wisdom of Solomon |Ezekiel |Amos |Jeremiah |2 Kings |

|1:13-15; 2:23-24 |2:1-5 |7:7-15 |23:1-6 |4:42-44 |

| | | | | |

|RESPONSE |RESPONSE |RESPONSE |RESPONSE |RESPONSE |

|Lamentations |Psalm |Psalm |Psalm |Psalm |

|3:21-33 |123 |85:8-13 |23 |145:10-19 |

| | | | | |

|SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |SECOND LESSON |

|2 Corinthians |2 Corinthians |Ephesians |Ephesians |Ephesians |

|8:7-15 |12:2-10 |1:3-14 |2:11-22 |3:14-21 |

| | | | | |

|GOSPEL |GOSPEL |GOSPEL |GOSPEL |GOSPEL |

|Mark 5:21-43 |Mark 6:1-13 |Mark 6:14-29 |Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 |John 6:1-21 |

SOME CHURCHY STUFF (M. C. Gillette)

In this monthly article, we look at terms and definitions of things you might see or hear around church. Nothing fancy here – these entries are out of the Armentrout/Slocum An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, sometimes supplemented by me, and sometimes simply copied directly. If something in particular piques your interest, let me know, and we’ll deal with it in more depth.

BRAZIER. A metal bowl containing coals for burning incense. (In this tidy little brazier – OBVIOUSLY new, because they look like you've burned sticky nuggets of resin in them on blazing hot coals after you've burned sticky nuggets of resin in them on blazing hot coals – there is a safety-conscious bed of sand, on which there lies an incense charcoal disk, on which their lies a tablespoon or so of incense nuggets.) Braziers are sometimes used in worship in place of the thurible, which is an incense bowl swung from hand-held chains. Any kind of incense-burning equipment is splendid in my book, but thuribles are tons more fun than braziers. We have a brazier, but I only get to burn paper and palms in it, not incense. Ah, well. Better Holy Apostles with no incense than incense with no Holy Apostles.

BREAKING OF THE BREAD, THE. Also known as "The Fraction." This part of the Eucharist is when the Presider breaks the consecrated bread for distribution. (As we use wafers, this is pretty easily done. If you get a good, chewy-crusted loaf of actual bread, it can take some doing.) In addition to being a practical matter – short of having everyone take a bite off a common loaf, you can't really share the bread if you don't break the bread -- the fraction also recalls Christ's body as broken for us and our salvation. The breaking of the bread follows the eucharistic prayer and the Lord's Prayer and is accompanied by a period of silence. (Usually a very brief period of silence, or people get twitchy thinking the priest has forgotten what comes next.) The fraction is followed by the Presider's invitation to communion and the administration of communion.

BREASTPLATE OF ST. PATRICK. An ancient Irish hymn, "I bind unto myself today," which appears as Hymn 370 in the 1982 Hymnal. It is a Celtic lorica, or breastplate prayer, which was recited while dressing or arming for physical or spiritual battle. The text invokes the Trinity, angels, apostles, patriarchs, prophets, the powers of heaven and earth, and Christ to be present for protection in all times and situations of life. The hymn strongly emphasizes personal commitment, awareness of God in everyday events 'today,' and Christ's pervasive presence. The text is ascribed to St. Patrick (the St. Patrick, c. 390-c. 460), although most scholars say it is very unlikely he actually wrote it. The earliest copy of the text dates from the ninth century. Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) translated the metrical English version of the text that appears in the Hymnal. She originally prepared this expanded paraphrase of the text for the 1891 revision of the Irish Church Hymnal. The hymn was completed in time to be sung throughout Ireland on St. Patrick's Day, 1889. It is now frequently used on Trinity Sunday (so say the Dictionary people – I can't say I've ever heard it sung – it is REALLY long) because of its powerful invocation of the Trinity. Ms. Alexander did do a lovely job rendering the text into hymn, but in case you're interested in a more traditional translation, here you go!

I arise today / Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity / Through belief in the threeness /

Through confession of the oneness / Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today / Through the strength of Christ with his baptism, / Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, / Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension / Through the strength of his decent for the Judgment of doom.

I arise today / Through the strength of the love of Cherubim / In obedience to the Angels, / In the service of the Archangels, / In hope of resurrection to meet with reward, / In prayers of patriarchs, / In predictions of prophets, / In preaching of Apostles, / In faiths of confessors, / In innocence of Holy Virgins, / In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today / Through the strength of heaven: / Light of sun / Radiance of moon / Splendor of fire /

Speed of lightning / Swiftness of wind / Depth of sea / Stability of earth / Firmness of rock.

I arise today / Through God’s strength to pilot me: / God’s might to uphold me, / God’s wisdom to guide me / God’s eye to look before me, / God’s ear to hear me, / God’s word to speak for me, / God’s hand to guard me, / God’s way to lie before me, / God's shield to protect me, / God’s host to save me / From snares of devils / From temptations of vices / From inclinations of nature / From everyone who shall wish me ill, / afar and anear, / alone and in a crowd.

A summon today all these powers between me and these evils / Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul, / Against incantations of false prophets, / Against black laws of heathenry, / Against false laws of heretics, / Against craft of idolatry, / Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, / Against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today / against poison, against burning, / against drowning, against wounding, / so that there may come abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, / Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, /

Christ on my right, Christ on my left / Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I arise / Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, / Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, / Christ in every eye that sees me, / Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today / Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, / Through belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness / Of the Creator of Creation.

Salvation is of the Lord / Salvation is of the Lord / Salvation is of Christ / May thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

PARISH LIFE

Ten Reasons Why You Should Be Going to Church

Posted on May 18, 2012 by the Rev. Anne Russ, Argenta Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, AK

(Saw this article just after I'd written my "Why go to church in the summer?" piece, and thought it was worth repeating. You can see the original, along with other articles by the Rev. Russ, on 1st Presbyterian Argenta's website, )

I’ve just seen one too many articles on why people aren’t coming to church. Admittedly, there are some good reasons. But I’d like to share my top 10 reasons why you should be coming to church. Others will have different reasons and some may disagree with the ones I have listed, but here they are.

10. Coming to church doesn’t mean you have no doubts about God or faith or religion. It means you have a place you can share with people who have their own doubts.

9. Bad stuff is going to happen in your life. It just is. A church community cannot be everything to everyone in times of crisis, but when the bottom falls out of your world, it’s great to have a community to lift you back up.

8. Bad stuff is going to happen in your life, part two. The time to build a relationship with God is not when life turns ugly, and you’ve run out of all other options. Attending worship regularly helps build a relationship with God and others that will give you a solid foundation when the winds blow and the storms come.

7. Not all churches are anti-something. Most of us are for people, for acceptance, for hospitality. Really, we’re out there. We just don’t get the good press.

6. Any church worth its salt has really good food on a regular basis.

5. Churches offer paint-by-number opportunities to serve. Many people would like to help the poor, the hungry and the homeless, but they don’t know how to get involved, how to make the time to be involved, or what they can do to really make a difference. Churches offer you ways to plug in to help those who need it most.

4. You’ve got a gift. Probably two or 10 of them. Becoming involved in the ministry of a church will help you discover and use gifts you never even knew you had.

3. Not all churches are after your money. Good churches want you have a healthy relationship with money. Sure, churches need to pay the electric bill and the pastor and the youth director, but money and the church is more about you than it is about the church. It’s about your own relationship with money. World events have proven that it’s much better to put faith in God than in a bank account. Church can help you with that.

2. Taking a break from our hectic lives to come to church is accepting the gift of Sabbath. Wayne Mueller says “(Sabbath) dissolves the artificial urgency of our days, because it liberates us from the need to be finished.” We don’t take Sabbath and come to worship because we have time and have finished up everything that needs to be done. We take Sabbath because it is time to stop, and we are designed to stop, rest and reflect. Those don’t are destined to crash and burn.

1. Jesus is really cool. Even if you don’t know if you can believe in the whole Son-of-God thing, even if you refer to the resurrection as the Zombie Jesus event and even though those of us already in church often do a lousy job of following him, come to church to get to know Jesus. The more you get to know him, the more you’ll understand why people call his way The Way.

Wauconda/Island Lake Food Pantry: The milk jug count for April is $125.16!! Thank you!  The money is used to buy needed items that are not always donated. In April the food pantry served 254 families which totaled 698 individuals. Please keep them in your prayers. There is a sign up sheet in Lincoln Hall if you are interested in volunteering some Saturdays between 10am and 12 noon.  If you have any questions please ask Rick or Marsha Fedor or email fedor711@.

Book Discussion Group: Summer is finally here, and for many of us, that means more time to read!  We have an eclectic selection of books coming up for discussion.  We hope at least one will catch your eye.  We meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. (locations are noted below).  Remember the Ela Area Public Library reserves our titles for us, so they are always available.  For more information, please contact Lisa Earley at 847-550-0446.

June 26   Elegance of the Hedgehog (a best seller in France and several other countries, belongs to a distinct subgenre: the accessible book that flatters readers with its intellectual veneer) by Muriel Barbery at the home of Barb Barrie

July 24   Death Comes to Pemberley (a novel by that continues Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with a murder mystery) by PD James at the home of Stacey Pyne

Aug 28  Jane Austen Book Club   (six Californians start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austen, only to find their relationships -- both old and new -- begin to resemble 21st century versions of her novels) by Karen Joy Fowler at the home of Judi Dura

Sept 25 Huckleberry Finn  (the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River) by Mark Twain at the home of Lisa Earley   

Oct  23    Sin in the Second City  (a colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters, their world-famous Club, and the perennial clash between our hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots) by Karen Abbott at the home of Scott Stoltz & Sandy Brown

Nov 27  Unbroken  (a biography of Louis Zamperini, Olympic athlete and World War II hero) by Laura Hillenbrand at the home of Julie Zuidema

SATURDAY 16 JUNE -- Just in time for Father's Day, it's

LOBSTERFEST!!!

Order your freshly-flown-in 1&1/4 pound lobsters to take home and cook as you prefer.  Better yet, have our expert lobster-boilers prepare them for you. Best of all, join your neighbors under the Holy Apostles' tent for a lobster dinner and live music.  Don't like lobster but want to join the fun? For a $5 cover (those 12 and under are free) come for the band and the company.  Beer, burgers, brats, and other good things will also be available for sale.   Live lobsters are $16; cooked are $18; dinners (lobster, coleslaw, corn, roll, butter) are $25 (beverage NOT included).  Home-made pies are $15 each.  Pick-up live and cooked lobsters and pies at Holy Apostles between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Saturday 16 June.  Join us for live music, lobster dinners, and other tasty food items between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.  Can't wait to see you there! Order lobsters online at . Order deadline is June 11.

SAVE THE DATE: JULY 29, ANNUAL PARISH PICNIC

|JUNE 2012 (See page 2 for Service Schedule.) |

|SUN |

SUN |MON |TUE |WED |THU |FRI |SAT | |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7

Food Pantry | |8

|9

7pm Shawl Ministry

|10

|11

|12

3-7pm Wauconda Farmers Market Booth |13 |14

Food Pantry

| |15

|16

|17

7pm Bishop’s Committee Meeting |18

|19 |20 |21

Food Pantry

| |22

3:45 Wauconda Care Center Service

|23

7pm Shawl Ministry |24

7:30pm Book Discussion Group |25 |26

3-7pm Wauconda Farmers Market Booth |27 |28

Food Pantry

| |29

Annual Parish Picnic |30

|31 | | | | | |July Birthdays: July Anniversaries:

July 1: Susan Allen July 5: Diane and Geoff Cooper

July 10: Eileen Kinney July 10: Susan Allen and Jon Matson

July 12: Gail Permenter July 11: Marsha and Rick Fedor

July 20: Marsha Fedor

July 22: Leni Patten

July 30: Harry Krause, Marsha Taylor

HERE AND THERE: (M. C. Gillette)

In this on-going article, we pull things from our various Diocesan calendars and church websites so see what’s going on around us. For more information about what's happening at Cathedral Commons (the name for the combined 'campus' of the Diocesan Headquarters and the Cathedral of Saint James) you can always visit the Diocesan Website at .

Blues In The Sanctuary – 02 June 2012

St. Martin's Episcopal Church (5700 W Midway Park, Chicago, IL 60644) will offer a Blues in the Sanctuary on Saturday, June 2 at 8:00 pm featuring Zora Young and the Big Four. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at . Call 773.378.8111 for more information.

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THIS MONTH WE HAVE 2 LETTERS – Pastoral Letters (open letters addressed by a bishop to the clergy and/or laity of his or her diocese, containing either general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumstances) from our Presiding Bishop and from Bishop Lee and his colleague Bishop Buchanan.

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A Pastoral Letter From Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori

on the Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous Peoples

On May 7, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori joined other religious voices in repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery at the 11th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). The theme for the UNPFII meeting is “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).” In 2009, General Convention repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery.

"Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.'"[1]

The first biblical creation story tells of the creation of earth, sky, waters, creatures, and gives human beings dominion over the rest. God pronounces what has been created good. At the end of the original week of creation, with the advent of human beings, God blesses all of it, and pronounces the work very good[2].

The second creation story tells of what goes wrong – the first two earth creatures eat what they have been forbidden to eat, and are then expelled from the garden[3]. They have misunderstood what it means to exercise dominion toward life in the garden. Through the millennia, many of their offspring have continued to misunderstand dominion, or to willfully twist the divine intent of dominion toward the conceit of domination. Through the ages, human beings have too often insisted that what exists has been made for their individual use, and that force may be used against anyone who seems to compete for a particular created resource[4]. The result has been enormous destruction, death, despair, and downright evil – what is more commonly called “sin.”

The blessings of creation are meant to be stewarded, in the way of husbanding and housekeeping, for the true meaning of dominion is tied to the constellation of meanings around house and household. There have been strands of the biblical tradition which have kept this sacred understanding alive, but the unholy quest for domination has sought to quench it, in favor of wanton accumulation and exclusive possession of the goods of creation for an individual or a small part of the blessed family of God.

After that eviction from the primordial garden, the biblical stories are mostly about how human communities strive to return to a homeland that will be a source of blessing for the community. Through the long centuries, the prophetic understanding of that community broadens to include all the nations of the earth. Even so, the seemingly eternal struggle between dominators and stewards has continued to the present day.

Most of the passages in the Bible that talk about land are yearning for a fertile place, where people are able to grow crops, tend flocks, and live in peace. The offspring of those first human beings gave rise to peoples who hungered for land, and many of them did a great deal of violence through the ages in order to occupy and possess it. They weren’t alone, for the empires of Alexander, Rome, and Genghis Khan were also the result of amassing conquered territory. The Christian empires of Europe were consumed with battles over land for centuries, and eventually sent military expeditions across the Mediterranean in a quest to re-establish a Christian claim on what they called the Holy Land.

The explorers who set out from Christian Europe in the 15th century went with even broader motivations, in search of riches and abundantly fertile lands. They also went with religious warrants, papal bulls which permitted and even encouraged the subjugation and permanent enslavement of any non-Christian peoples they encountered, as well as the expropriation of any territories not governed by Christians[5]. Western Christian religious authorities settled competitions over these conquests by dividing up the geography that could be claimed among the various European nations.

These religious warrants led to the wholesale slaughter, rape, and enslavement of indigenous peoples in the Americas, as well as in Africa, Asia, and the islands of the Pacific, and the African slave trade was based on these same principles. Death, dispossession, and enslavement were followed by rapid depopulation as a result of introduced and epidemic disease. Yet death and dispossession of lands and resources were not a singular occurrence that can be laid up to the depredations of benighted medieval warriors. They are not akin to Viking raids in the British Isles, or ancient struggles between neighboring tribes in Europe or Africa. These acts of “Discovery” have had persistent effects on marginalized, transported, and disenfranchised peoples.

The ongoing dispossession of indigenous peoples is the result of legal systems throughout the “developed” world that continue to base land ownership on these religious warrants for colonial occupation from half a millennium ago. These legal bases collectively known as the Doctrine of Discovery underlie U.S. decisions about who owns these lands[6]. The dispossession of First Peoples continues to wreak havoc on basic human dignity. These principles give the lie to biblical understandings that all human beings reflect the image of God, for those who have been thrown out of their homeland, had their cultures largely erased, and sent into exile, are still grieving their loss of identity, lifeways, and territory. All humanity should be grieving, for our sisters and brothers are suffering the injustice of generations. The sins of our forebears are being visited on the children of indigenous peoples, even to the seventh generation.

There will be no peace or healing until we attend to that injustice. The prophets of ancient Israel cried out for justice when their ability to live in the land they saw as home was threatened. A day laborer named Amos challenged those around him with the word of God, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream”[7]. Where there is no justice, there can be no peace for anyone.

In the North American context, the poorest of the poor live on Native reservations. The depth of poverty there is closely followed by the poverty among ghettoized descendants of the indigenous peoples of Africa who were transported to these shores as slaves. That kind of poverty is also frequent in other parts of the world where indigenous people have been dispossessed and displaced. Healing is not possible, it is not even imaginable, until the truth is told and current reality confronted. The basic dignity and human rights of first peoples have been repeatedly transgressed, and the outcome is grievous – poverty, cultural destruction, and multi-generational consequences. The legacy of grief that continues unresolved is visible in skyrocketing suicide rates, rampant hopelessness, and deep anger. In many contexts it amounts to pathological or impacted grief – for when hope is absent, healing is impossible.

The legacy of domination includes frightful evil – the intentional destruction of food sources and cultural centers like the herds of North American bison, the intentional introduction of disease and poisoning of water sources, wanton disregard of starvation and illness, the abuse and enslavement of women and children, the murder of those with the courage to protest inhumane treatment, the repeated dispossession of natural resources, land, and water, as well as chronically inadequate Federal management and defense of Native rights and resources.

There have been some glimmers of justice in decisions that have returned Native fishing and hunting rights, and some improvements in tribal rights to self-determination. There is a very small and slow return of bison to the prairie, and wolves have begun to return in places where they are not immediately hunted down. Yet many of these recoveries continue to be strenuously resisted by powerful non-Native commercial interests.

There are signs of hope in returning cultural treasures to their communities of origin, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act[8] is returning remains for dignified burial. The legacy of cultural genocide is slowly being addressed as indigenous traditions, languages, and cultural skills are taught to new generations.

The Episcopal Church has been present and ministering with Native peoples in North America for several centuries. That history of accompaniment and solidarity has hardly been perfect, yet we continue to seek greater justice and deeper healing.

The Episcopal Church’s relationship with Native peoples in the Americas begins with the first English colonists. We remember the story of Manteo, a Croatan of what is now North Carolina. He traveled to England in 1584 and helped a colleague of Sir Walter Raleigh learn to speak Algonquin. He returned here the next year, became something of an ambassador between the two peoples, was baptized, and is counted a saint of this church[9].

Episcopal missionaries have served in a variety of indigenous communities and contexts. Henry Benjamin Whipple was Bishop of Minnesota in 1862, and his powerful petition to Abraham Lincoln saved the lives of some 265 of the Dakota men sentenced to hang the day after Christmas in Mankato[10]. The Dakota people called him “Straight Tongue.” Today many Dakota and Lakota people are part of this Episcopal tradition.

This Church has stood in solidarity with native peoples in Alaska, Hawai’i, and the American southwest, especially the Diné (Navajo), as well as in urban Indian communities. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (in Alabama) achieved federal recognition in the 1980s with the aid of baptismal records maintained by this Church, which also assisted in returning a piece of land to the Poarch Band[11]. A large group of indigenous people in Ecuador is seeking recognition as worshiping communities in the Episcopal tradition, and we have other indigenous members and communities in Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and Micronesia. Our historical presence in the Philippines began with the indigenous Igorot peoples of the mountains and highlands.

Healing work continues across The Episcopal Church. In 1997 Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning apologized for the enormities that began with the colony in Jamestown[12]. Today our understanding of mission has changed. We believe that God’s mission is about healing brokenness in the world around us – broken relationships between human beings and the Creator, broken relationships between peoples, and damaged relationships between human beings and the rest of creation. We seek to partner in God’s mission through proclaiming a vision of a healed world; forming Christians as partners in that mission; responding to human suffering around us; reversing structural and systemic injustice; and caring for this earthly garden[13]. We partner with any and all who share a common vision for healing, whether Episcopalian or Christian or not.

Work with indigenous peoples in recent years has been intensely focused on issues of poverty and the generational consequences of cultural destruction, the reality of food deserts and diabetes rates on reservations, unemployment and inadequate educational resources, as well as the ongoing reality of racism and exclusion in the larger society[14]. Mission and development work in Native communities is locally directed, honoring the gifts and assets already present[15], and moves toward a vision of healed community. We partner with White Bison in community organizing that develops training programs for community healing[16]. This is a historic development, the first such partnership between a traditional Native American non-profit and The Episcopal Church.

This Church has worked to alleviate systemic and structural injustice in many ways, and our repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery in 2009 is a recent example[17]. Since at least 1976, our advocacy work has included support for First Nations land claims in Canada, advocacy with the U.S. government for improved health care, religious freedom, preservation of burial sites and repatriation of remains and cultural resources, increased Federal tribal recognition, and critical Federal Government self-examination around Native American rights. We have affirmed and reaffirmed our desire to strengthen relationships with Native peoples by remembering the past, recognizing the deficits and gifts in our historic and current relationships, and continued work toward healing[18]. We are currently advocating for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, with provisions directly affecting Native women.

The Doctrine of Discovery work of this Church is focused on education, dismantling the structures and policies based on that ancient evil, support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples[19], and challenging governments around the world to support self-determination for indigenous peoples.

We seek to address the need for healing in all parts of society, and we stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples globally to acknowledge and address the legacy of colonial occupation and policies of domination. Our Christian heritage has taught us that a healed community of peace is only possible in the presence of justice for all peoples. We seek to build such a beloved community that can be a sacred household for all creation, a society of right relationships.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us… and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near… So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God[20]"

We pray that God will give us the strength and courage to do this work together for the good of all our relations, in the belief that Christ Jesus ends hostility and brings together those who were once divided.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

Presiding Bishop and Primate

The Episcopal Church

_________________________________

[1] Genesis 1:26

[2] Genesis 1:1-2:3

[3] Genesis 2:4-3:24

[4] Commodification or what Heidegger called Bestand, cf. The Question Concerning Technology or Being and Time

[5] Doctrine of Discovery resources:

[6] cf. Johnson v M’Intosh: 'Intosh

[7] Amos 5:24

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13] a shorthand summary of the Five Anglican Marks of Mission

[14] [15] through Asset-Based Community Development

[16]

[17]

[18] cf. Decade of Remembrance, Recognition, and Reconciliation:

[19]

[20] Ephesians 2:13ff

For more info contact: Neva Rae Fox, Public Affairs Officer, The Episcopal Church

publicaffairs@ - 212-716-6080 Mobile: 917-478-5659

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A Letter from Bishop Lee and Bishop Buchanan

May 6, 2012

Dear Friends:

Grace and peace to you in the name of the risen Christ.

During this Easter season of rebirth, we are glad to report that we have taken another step in discussing the possible reunification of the Dioceses of Quincy and Chicago, which were created when the Diocese of Illinois divided into three in 1877.

On Saturday, April 28, we met with lay and clergy leaders from Quincy and Chicago to discuss the legal, practical, and spiritual considerations of reunification. We agreed to develop a plan and timeline for future discussions; to meet again on August 18; and to plan time at our fall annual conventions—Quincy’s synod on October 20 and Chicago’s convention on November 16-17—to talk about reunification.

Between now and our meeting in August, we will form a joint working group to examine various issues involved in reunification, including the Diocese of Quincy’s ongoing efforts to regain buildings and funds currently in the possession of people who left the Episcopal Church in 2008. This due diligence process will be in the capable hands of our diocesan chancellors and laypeople from both dioceses with relevant professional experience.

Even as we attend to these business matters, we want to assure you that a spirit of discernment is guiding our reunification discussions. This conversation is primarily about the wellbeing of the people of both dioceses and the mission and ministry to which God is calling us.

As our reunification conversations proceed, please pray for each other and for the leaders who are discerning our future. We also invite you to learn more about each other through and. As we continue our work, we hope to plan visits and hold events that will allow us to get to know one another and worship together.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. John C. Buchanan

The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee

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News From South Sudan

Diocese of Renk, on border, is Chicago's companion

On Monday, 14 May, the Anglican Communion News Service reported that Episcopal and Catholic bishops from South Sudan, led by Episcopal Church of Sudan Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, "'stand committed to do all in [their] power'" to realize an end to war between Sudan and South Sudan."

On Thursday, 15 May, the Los Angeles Times reported that African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki flew to Khartoum after Sudan and South Sudan missed a U.N. Security Council deadline to resume peace talks.

On Friday, 18 May, the Episcopal Public Policy Network asked Episcopalians to contact members of Congress for support of HR 4169, the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012, which supports sustainable peace and development in South Sudan by supplementing U.S. food assistance with investment in agricultural development and small-scale farming in South Sudan.

FROM: Church of the Holy Apostles

26238 North Highway 59

Wauconda, Illinois 60084

TO:

-----------------------

June/July

2012

The Apostles Post

Church of the Holy Apostles

26238 North Highway 59

Wauconda, Illinois

(847)526-7148

hapostles@



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