Forums

Drop in and introduce yourself!

2008-11-23T01:45:10-05:00

Welcome to Covenant!

Covenant is not a blog; it’s a community of Christians striving to strengthen and renew the evangelical and catholic center of Anglicanism, which, for most, but not all, of us, means striving to fulfill that vocation within The Episcopal Church.

The Covenant community is about being and becoming the Church. It’s about Immanuel - “God with us.” It’s about about knowing and participating in the life of the immanent God we encounter in Jesus Christ. It is therefore about holy friendships. We at Covenant want to connect with the triune God, with each other, and with the localities in which we live through rich and meaningful relationships.

These forums are about developing bonds of affection. We’ll talk about worship, theology, mission, and dig into Scripture together, but our purpose is to nurture the divine koinonia that Christ commissioned us to embody. We’ll sometimes take a quite serious tone appropriate to the material we discuss, but our aim is always fellowship. A focus on fellowship can help to bring down perceived or actual barriers that obstruct life-giving relationships. God wants us to relax and have fun so that our hearts will be open to one another. And that’s part of our vocation as Israel. When we who are many become one, others encounter Christ in us!

Our hope and expectation is that these Covenant forums will provide opportunities to form holy friendships. We want to be led by God to form relationships through which we are blessed and through which we become a blessing to others. Sometimes God will connect us with people that have the same ministry or shared interests. Sometimes we connect with people because they complement us through their differences. Our expectation is that the Covenant forums will offer opportunities to get to know people with whom we can connect in deep and meaningful relationships, even at great distances.

We want to make heart-connections. When we dialogue with people on these forums, we want to get beyond shallow discussion and have conversations about things that we are passionate about. We want to ask questions that pull at the dreams and desires that we have for God. We want to ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer. We have specific questions about our faith, and its implications for our family, our joys, and our sorrows. The covenantal life to which Christ calls us makes these risky questions possible without fear of rejection. We want this to be a safe place for all to learn and practice the habits of that covenantal life.

As for me, you can read a complete bio right here.

In Search of Guidance

2010-02-01T21:25:30-05:00

Dear friends,

I am giving very serious thought to converting to the Episcopal church. I have been a Catholic for most of my life (with a brief sojourn into a Congregational UCC church). There are many things that I admire about the Episcopal church, and I am hoping to take this upcoming Lent to reflect a bit more deeply on my move before I make any real decisions.

Could anyone suggest some resources for me to read? I see names like N.T. Wright and Rowan Williams…but what else? What is—for you—the ‘must read’ book(s) for Episcopalians? By Episcopalians? Anglicans? Both?

Any advice or suggestions would be most appreciated. I have to say that I am not much of a theologian, nor am I consumed with passion on one side or another of certain…let’s say less than pragmatic theological disputes. I am a follower of Christ who (I hesitate to write this) may be discerning a call to some sort of ministry at the same time that I am leaving the Roman Catholic church once and for all.

God bless you,
Michael

Urbana - InterVarsity’s Triennial Mission Conference

2009-12-26T00:18:59-05:00

Urbana - InterVarsity’s Triennial Mission Conference starts on Sunday. Here is the web site. There should be audio and video of speakers, either streaming live, or in mp3 format.

[I’ll be leading an intercessory prayer conference]

Prayer welcome!

Christ is born!

2009-12-25T14:43:49-05:00

Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever on God,
World without end. Amen.

Christmas blessings to all!

Honduras

2009-08-29T16:58:19-05:00

Hello,

Some have asked me to talk about my time in Honduras. I find that to be a daunting task as it is so hard to put into words the many wonderful experiences that I had in that country.

Originally, I was going to be met by 11 other individuals from the Diocese of Washington. The original purpose of our trip to Honduras was threefold. We were going to study Spanish through a Spanish language immersion program. We were going to experience the Episcopal Church in Honduras. And finally, we were going to help with community service projects in three remote communities. Unfortunately, due to the political unrest in the country, the rest of the group was unable to join me. So, I was able to accomplish our first two goals by myself but not able to do any actual community service work in the remote communities.

The majority of my time was spent in a town called Copan Ruinas. It is the site of some famous Mayan ruins. I must admit that my interests do not lie in ancient meso-America, so I did not spend much time at the ruins. Undoubtedly, this will shock and dismay those of you for whom this period of time holds great interest for you. I am sorry.

Nonetheless, I found the country and people of Honduras to be wonderful. The people in Copan were extremely nice. I have to say that it is an ideal location for an immersion program because most of the people do not know English. Thus, you have to speak Spanish in order to accomplish basic daily tasks. However, the people were very, very friendly and patient with my broken Spanish. I stayed with a family for the entire time and was able to enjoy delicious home-cooked meals and lots of mealtime conversation.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of my trip was the amount of work that the priests in Honduras accomplish. Padre Arnoldo is the dean of Copan, and he is responsible for 30 missions in that area! While a couple of these missions are near the town of Copan, most of them are far up in the mountains and only reachable with his very durable 4-wheel drive truck! They rely heavily on the help of lay pastors because there are just not enough priests for all of the congregations. They have lay pastors who have graduated from seminary and are ready to be ordained, but they don’t have the funds to ordain them. I was very much reminded of Christ’s statements about the fields being ripe for the harvest!

It is my hope to return to Honduras one day. I would love to bring a group of teenagers with me for the immersion experience. There is nothing like experiencing another culture to get a better understanding of our own. I am going to try very hard to keep up with and improve my Spanish. I would be overjoyed if I could one day become fluent. I don’t know if God will ever call me specifically to ministry with a Spanish-speaking congregation, but I do know that I am very grateful that God has laid a burden on the heart of my bishop to prepare all of his ordinands for that possibility.

In Christ,
Shawn

DC-Maryland Get-together

2009-05-14T07:04:28-05:00

It has become apparent that there are a fair number of us in the DC-Maryland area. Perhaps we might like to meet face-to-face?

On being loyal

2009-03-17T16:07:22-05:00

A recent debate with the most informed, (probably) most liberal member of the parish I serve as Rector leads me to ask the Covenant community if I am on track in my understanding of the ordination vow to “conform”/“be loyal.” Background: I’m in TEC (Upper SC).

My understanding of the accepted meaning of the oath follows.

First, the most direct vow is “obey your bishop” (BCP, 526). This is very direct and is usually invoked only in very serious circumstances. Even in liberal dioceses (Newark, LA, Washington DC, etc.), the bishops give fair latitude to conservative priests. For example, an anglo-catholic priest and church in DC wouldn’t be forced to have a woman priest as an assistant (even though women’s ordination is canonical now).

Then, the vow to “conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of TEC” (BCP, same page) is understood in terms of the question: “Will you be loyal to the doctrine, discipline, and worship *of Christ as this Church has received them*?” “Received” is a historical reference to the founding of TEC. Bishops-elect, post Revolution, went to England and Scotland seeking ordination and our first prayer book was reviewed with suggestions from the Church of England.

So “doctrine” is understood to mean, not the current teaching of the PB (for example) or even pronouncements by the General Convention, but the Nicene Creed and other doctrinal affirmations in the liturgies of the BCP (our only official theology book!).

“Discipline” is the latest version of the Canons plus the authority of the diocesan bishop. Thus, battles in GC over revisions of the Canons. The latest big one that was attempted (with Bishop Henderson on the Committee) was a proposed addition for the ecclesiastical discipline of lay people. It failed and they have given up on that effort.

“Worship” is covered by the rubrics of the BCP. We are not permitted to compose Sunday morning liturgies. Any occasional variations would need the Bishop’s express approval.

So, the conservative loyal opposition (loyal to their vows, to their bishop, and to this church-as-a-whole), stays in the church and argues against certain innovations. Part of the “charge” to an ordinand is “to take your share in the councils of the Church (BCP 531). So we go to Diocese Convention and General Convention and argue the points, based on the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this Church has received them.”

My liberal member is not satisfied tat I am correct. Am I off track?

Jim Workman
Easley, SC