The Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued a
Day: October 3, 2011
The girlfriends’ clergy companion
When I started seminary and began envisioning myself as a clergyperson, I started looking at the style of women pastors, particularly women head pastors. And I noticed that virtually without exception, they had “The Haircut.” The Don’t-Think-of-Me-as-a-Woman-Think-of-Me-as-a-Pastor haircut.
Occupy Everywhere
Can anyone out there enlighten us on the moral and ethical case that the Occupy Wall Street protestors seem to be making against American capitalism, and whether it stands up to scrutiny?
Bishop Sauls’ proposal, IV: the balance of power
Bishop Saul’s presentation has raised concerns about whether authority in our church might be concentrated in far fewer hands. A few suggestions, then, aimed at making sure that every alternative is explored as we attempt to develop a leaner bureaucracy while insuring that all orders continue to share authority in governing our church.
I’ve Got a Friend Who…
Paul encourages us to limit our freedoms out of respect for other’s scruples, conscience, or even their superstitions. It is a generous practice.
A word on our seminaries: Consolidate!
Consolidating formal theological education in a single seminary (or even two seminaries) shifts the institutional paradigm from weakness to strength and from survival to mission. Mainline denominations that do not make this shift fight a losing rearguard action, trying to sustain a nineteenth century model in a twenty-first century world.