Here I stand.

I spend too much time reading all the blogs over on the right, and following links from them. By the time I finished today, the sun was shining on the area I needed to weed in the garden (and it is hot down here in Oz). I could (should?) do some housework. Naah, might as well stay at the computer. The joys of being retired.
One comment (among 100's) on "Father Jake Stops the World" I feel really needs promoting. It so much ties in with my own life experience.
My own witness:

I've been listening to the excluding, abominating and fear/hate-driven nonsense "arguments" directed against LGBT sisters/brothers, pals/parents, coworkers/fellow students, both in and outside of Church/everyday life, since I can remember.

It's mostly ALL emotionally/spiritually "damaged" and ugly/sick, frigtening and dangerous to human beings.

Earlier on I kept my mouth shut and listened, sometimes agreed to hate myself while listening to the "blanket" slander spread and directed against people like me.

At college, early 60's, I sought "professional help" (for the first time) to come-to-terms with the Gay man in me (many did and there was a secret weekly "group therapy" on campus "secret location" lead by first-rate Psychologists). We attempted to address the self-destructive/loathing aspects of actually believing/buying into the ignorance/feardriven social outcasting that was running rampant and being "expressed" around us in our everyday lives...most often we listened to that kind of demoralizing crap silently (we discovered in our "group") yet the ugly words and injustice in the demeaning/outcasting somehow sunk in and sometimes caused severe emotional difficulties and sometimes even suicide (often attempted and sometimes completed).

Afterall, LGBT people are (according to many biggoted folks both in and outside of Church) "disgusting" and it didn't matter if we were/are celibate, A or F students/sport enthusiasts or bookworms, thieves or honorable, black, brown, yellow or white, wanting to be married/committed to a single loved ONE or fallen into non-stop sexually obsessed adventurers (like many "free love" heterosexuals of our time) or rich or poor.

Moving fast-forward to now:

We, at The Episcopal Church, are finding a simple way to EXPOSE these basic and prejudiced "icky" fear/hate factor that generate discrimination and the excluding of LGBT "others" from Christs family. We've found a way out from under the demoralizing of one another.

It's time for everyone to focus on THEIR own (individual) character/sin(s) and stop yammering, with non-stop, and deadly, illwill, for the humilation, degradation and EXCLUDING of heterosexual women and LGBT people at all levels of Churchlife and beyond.

I believe a great part of OUR MISSION is to EXPOSE some "religious" actions/selective Scriptural "believing" that has inspired crimes of hate, at Church/beyond.

+Akinola and +Orombi and +Venables/others are revealing themselves to be extemely dangerous to most fellow human beings...spreading/preaching the message of hate/exclusion/intolerance and the demeaning lie of "abomination" towards LGBT Christians/others IS the core problem with Christianity. Preaching exclusion/fear/hate contaminates "believing" in many innocent Christians/others in Africa and beyond.

We've found a way to say no to discrimination, persecution and the generating of fear/hate and we'll never be religiously "contaminated" again by anyone...there is no going back.

Trust God
Leonardo Ricardo |

Heroes?

In one Catholic school where I worked as Teacher Librarian, there was a section of the English course in Year 8 titled "Heroes & Heroines" in which the students had to research and present a paper on their own choice. I saw it as a great opportunity to teach information literacy. However, I was usually horrified at the subject choices made by the students. Usually the latest film, rock, sport star, some with doubtful morals. However as I wasn't actually teaching and marking the course, just assisting, there was little I could do about it.
I was reminded of this when watching the 7.30 report on Monday night. It began with the topic that has filled Australia news for the past few days. Of course there is nothing more important than cricket. I do not know if Harbhajan Singh did call Andrew Symonds a monkey but if he did I am quite sure the Australian team had already done some name-calling of their own. I believe they like to cast slurs on the wives of the opposition members, not racism but just as childish. It reminds me of the behaviour of some of those Year 8 students I use to teach when I use to tell them to grow up. Beyond that I could not be bothered becoming involved as to who started it.
The same 7.30 report ended with a story about heart surgeons and nurses spending their leave time and own money to travel to Rwanda and operate on children with operations that are now fairly commonplace here in Australia but impossible over there. In the process they were also teaching local doctors. No secret who I think are the real heroes

It just gets worse

Does he just like to see his name in print.
From Thinking Anglicans

The Archbishop of Sydney is quoted in the Australian press on this topic:

Australian religious leaders were yesterday divided over the death penalty. Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen said official church doctrine in the 39 Articles of 1662 endorsed it: “The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous and grievous offences.”

Dr Jensen said Christians were concerned about the abuse of capital punishment for crimes that did not merit death. “But I cannot absolutely rule out capital punishment in all circumstances, since the Bible itself allows it.”

See Death row pleas for citizens only in the Melbourne Age.

Some comments from the site

'Yes, Archbishop Jensen, and of course the law of England followed biblical teaching in sentencing gay people to death between the reigns of Henry VIII and Victoria. So I suppose this will return to the statute books in the future golden age of Gafconianity?"

"How did a lovely friendly city like Sydney get stuck with such a ferocious Calvinist dinosaur? I should think +Jensen would be happier in harsh Calvinist Texas."

"The view Jensen puts most certainly lacks in any meaningful theological content, and perhaps demonstrates why his 10-year plan for the evangelizing of Sydney is behind target. The rest - outlined in another thread - is playing at pretending-to-be-primate."

"And, apparently, he can not rule out slavery altogether since the Bible allows it."

"How sad when hateful old men speak their mind. And what's with the suit and tie? Is his clerical shirt in the wash?"

"Note that Jensen's comments, like many in the separatist movement, are an example of scriptural selectivity. I wonder if capital punishment is included in the "faith once delivered to the saints" accolades he signed onto in the San Joaquin letter."

and in the interests of fairness one comment in his defence.

"In defence of Archbishop Jensen, he has spoken out for Aboriginal rights and refugees. He was never a lackey of the Howard Government. So it would be totally wrong to portray him simply as a rightwing bigot. His theological views are sincerely held, and he and his brother are often misunderstood. They love Our Blessed Lord and seek to serve him.

Listen to his talk on the internet..Why he is a Protestant. He states how he would not go to the inaugral Mass of Cardinal Pell, because " No Archbishop of Sydney goes to a Mass." ( he did go to a prayer service though) he is a man of conviction and integrity and you know where you stand with him."

True Inclusive Communion

A number of years ago, I went with my Mother and Sister to St Stephen's, Willoughby for Christmas service. We did not go to the first service of the morning as it was difficult to get my mother anywhere early. I was surprised when the priest entered in suit and tie and discovered it was not to be a communion service. As the service continued, I became more and more annoyed and finally left when we were asked to raise our hands if we were saved. My mother and sister soon followed. My mother was upset as she had never missed communion on Christmas day before but they also were bewildered by the service. It was not Anglican in any shape or form and parts were, to put it bluntly, obnoxious.
I wrote to the priest and one of his replies was to the effect that he did not believe communion should be offered to those many who only attend at Christmas and might take it unworthily. I was gobsmacked. I have just read a comment on Father Jake's site describing a funeral service for a young man after a car accident. Part of this comment follows (my bold).

When it was time for communion, the family came up first. As is often the case, we wondered if anyone else would come to the rail for communion. Then they began to approach us. Out of over 350 people in that service about 280 of them took communion. We didn't ask who was baptized and who was not. We didn't do any litmus test of their beliefs. We simply ministered to those in need. We gave them Christ's body and His blood.

As I repeated the words "the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation" over and over, I began to notice how remarkable an event I was privileged to be witnessing. We were making a difference. We were providing what these young people needed. It may not have made complete sense to them or to us, but it was what they needed. They heard the same comfort in those words that I had heard thousands of times over the years. And I recalled my own mother's funeral this past August when I heard those same words then and knew that all would be well, that all would be well, that everything would be well.

We were able to reach out to this group of distraught young people today..not by judgment, not by requiring confirmation of any creed but the Apostle's, not by hitting them over the head with words that would drive them away again. We simply provided the words of comfort and the sacrament of comfort that the church has provided for hundreds of years.

This was a group of people who we don't see in church very much. The Barna Report tells us why. They see us as being hypocritical. We don't practice the love and compassion we preach. They find us particularly hypocritical about issues related to human sexuality. Sexual orientation is not an issue for them. They just don't care about that aspect of another person's life.
We look pretty silly to them with our obsession over it all.

I'm sure some will immediately provide criticism for us having announced that God's table was open to all. Others will wring their hands and gnash their teeth over the possibility of some received the sacrament without proper credentials. To be honest, I don't really care what anyone has to say about what we did. It's far more important to me and I firmly believe it's more in accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we did what we did.
We brought some folks to church today. I suspect we brought some back to church. For perhaps a fleeting moment, we touched some hearts and ministered to some critical needs.

It was a remarkable service and I was blessed to be a part of it.

I now have some friends, 2 sisters, who live in the Willoughby parish but worship at St James. They told me that they could not continue attending St Stephen's and for 6 months stopped worshipping at all until they decided to visit St James, where they can now be seen every Sunday and are involved in other parish activities. Praise God for St James, King Street where most services include the Eucharist and all are welcome.

Must I pray for Jensen?

Each week our church like all churches within the Diocese prays for Archbishop Peter Jensen. At least we usually pray for the Primate Archbishop Phillip Aspinall (Brisbane) as well ( I wonder how many other Sydney parishes do that). For years we prayed for the Prime Minister, John Howard and my prayer was for his removal as soon as possible. Finally God has granted that prayer. I think an answer to prayer for the removal of Jensen would not be very successful and the replacement would probably be worse. I can just pray for the faithful Anglicans trying to worship within the diocese.

The fact that Thinking Anglicans reports on Jensen meeting with Akinola to organise this meeting in Jerusalem next year shows what Jensen thinks of me. Akinola views on gay people are well known. If Jensen was to spout them here in Sydney, there are thankfully laws that would see him before the courts. He pretends he loves us but mention acceptance of gays to any Jensenite and see their faces contort in anger.
The report at Thinking Anglicans also shows he lacks the common courtesies that Anglican Bishops are suppose to display
The Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani has issued a press release:

Re: Global Anglican Future Conference planned for the Holy Land in June 2008

The Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Bishop Suheil Dawani, has expressed his concern about the Global Anglican Future Conference planned for the Holy Land in June this year.

“Regrettably, I have not been consulted about this planned conference,” said Bishop Suheil. “The first I learned of it was through a press release.

“I am aware that the post-Christmas announcement that this conference is to be held here has excited considerable interest around the Anglican Communion, and has become the subject of online discussion. Yet we Anglicans who minister here have been left out in the cold.

“I also note that the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, who appears to be one of the organisers, is encouraging clergy and lay people from his diocese to attend the conference with him and his bishops. He speaks of the meeting taking place because the Anglican Communion is, he says, ‘in disarray over fundamental issues of the gospel and biblical authority’.

“I am deeply troubled that this meeting, of which we had no prior knowledge, will import inter-Anglican conflict into our diocese, which seeks to be a place of welcome for all Anglicans.

“It could also have serious consequences for our ongoing ministry of reconciliation in this divided land. Indeed, it could further inflame tensions here. We who minister here know only too well what happens when two sides cease talking to each other. We do not want to see any further dividing walls!

“I believe our Primate, Dr Mouneer Hanna Anis,is also concerned about this event. His advice to the organizers that this was not the right time or place for such a meeting was ignored.”

“I urge the organizers to reconsider this conference urgently.”

Why does this not surprise me? Ask the Bishop of Newcastle.
The Diocese of Sydney spreads way beyond the present but ever-expanding boundaries of the metropolis of Sydney EXCEPT on the north. Here Sydney's urban area is sprawling into what is known as the Central Coast which lies within the Diocese of Newcastle. What a shock for poor young families who move there for sun, sand, surf and lower prices and find not only do they have to commute to work but on Sunday their church is run by shock, horror an Anglo-catholic priest who is not a graduate of Moore College. Now we all know that Bishops are not suppose to set up churches in other dioceses without permission. Of course the Jensenites cannot openly do this but everyone knows the new churches springing up on the coast may appear to be independent but funny how they are manned by men (never women) trained in the Diocese of Sydney.
From Wikipedia.
These churches are part of a loose fellowship of other evangelical churches around Australia called The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. Over the last five years, eight new churches have been established outside Sydney. Many of the pastors of these churches have been ministers in Anglican Diocese of Sydney and all except one has been through Moore Theological College. A number of ministers from the Anglican Diocese of Sydney are on the Board of Reference for these churches. In the Sydney Anglican synod of 2005, the links with Sydney Anglicans and the Independent Evangelical Churches was strengthened, with the possibility of the Independent churches becoming affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of Sydney
No wonder Jensen could not give a fig about the feelings of the Bishop of Jerusalem. And he has the hide to say others are splitting the Anglican communion.

Sport mad Australian Culture

To take a break from complaining about the Sydney Diocese, I will turn to another beef I have with living in Australia. Last night on the 7.30 Report there was an interview with Steve Davislim, a promising young tenor from Melbourne, who although little known in his home country, is a rising star on the international stage. Part of the interview
"These days he lives in splendour in Vienna as Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert once did. World capital of classical music, the Viennese know a talented tenor when they hear one.

STEVE DAVISLIM: I can hop in a taxi and they say, "What did you sing last night?" I mean, it's part of their culture. Their national orchestra is one of their national icons. The Vienna Philharmonic is, they have their own plane, you know, with the logo emblazoned on the tail. It's a different mindset. I think here is sport, sport, sport and there's some music somewhere, and I hope that changes at some point. That's part of the reason why, in a way, I'm in exile."

I really know what he means. In 2000, when Sydney hosted the Olympics, I went to Central Europe and attended the Opera in Vienna. In April I am returning to Vienna and as soon as my plane tickets were confirmed I booked 2 nights at the Opera in Vienna. First night will be "Der Rosenkavalier and second night will be lighter "Land of Smiles". I hope to also organise Operas and/or symphonies in Berlin, Leipzig and Munich.

I have never felt Australian as far as sport is concerned. I do watch the news and do know who is playing and who won, sometimes this is absolutely necessary to carry on a conversation, but I really could not care less.

As a child sport was torture. I have no hand/eye co-ordination and stood there blinking in surprise if I actually caught a ball. This was despite my Grandfather, a primary teacher, spending hours trying to teach me. My father displayed little interest although I know he did play cricket as a youth. He was more interested in tinkering under the car, another area in which I am sadly ignorant. As an asthmatic I could not run to save my life. Fortunately I grew out of that. The one sport in which I could hold my own was swimming and surfing but the result of that was the skin cancers that now have to be regularly treated, thankfully only once has an incipient melanoma appeared. Sport and PE lessons were always the time when I would be teased and mocked, often by the teachers who ignored the fact that I was in the top 10% academically.

In order to graduate as a high school teacher in Geography and Economics I had to do a course in sport, the only subject I failed. However, luckily, I passed the post exam in which they asked the rules of cricket rather than basketball which had been in the main exam. Most of my teaching career involved having to take sport, usually pleasant in summer as I took swimming or lifesaving. Winter usually meant soccer (football) in which I developed some knowledge and even developed some expertise and took grade (only because any sporty teacher in those days took Rugby, things are changing). However I usually talked the teacher from the opposing school into refereeing and one memorable time, the team returned to tell me they had won, only to find me fast asleep. I never understood why all teachers had to take sport but were not expected to take other subjects in which they had no real expertise eg. music or art. More and more schools are now developing integrated sport so this is no longer an imposition on all teachers.

Also the range of sports is increasing. When I went to school, the summer choice for juniors was Cricket or Learn to Swim. I was too proud of my one sporting accomplishment to join the latter although some of my friends did and splashed feebly in week one then improved greatly in week two when it was too late to send them back to cricket. In later years I was saved by joining Lifesaving.

Winter was misery. The choice was Rugby Union or Softball and as I had no wish to be killed on a weekly basis, I went to Softball despite the ridicule heaped on us as we left the assembly. Again as a senior I was allowed to go to tennis in which I was also hopeless (remember absolutely no hand/eye coordination) but I could play with a few mates, who were nearly as hopeless, in a game of "Hit and Giggle".

Today as I said, there is much more choice. Ten Pin Bowling was something I could manage and occasionally even win although when I take students there these days, they seem to spend more time feeding their faces in the cafeteria than exercising their muscles so I am not sure it is a good choice.

The one period in my life in which I took an interest in Rugby (League ) was during the early 70's when I was grappling with my same sex orientation. There was an exciting mateship in going to the weekly fixture then onto the pub with the guys. I became a mad Saints supporter and still have a red white scarf and beanie in the cupboard but obviously that was unfulfilling in the long run.

To get back to where I started, I think I would have felt I belonged more to my culture if I was born in one of the countries of Central Europe. I wish there was a little bit of balance so that Australian musicians (also painters, novelists and scientists) could be idolised as well as our sportsmen and women.

++Jensen, the Dark Lord

I did appreciate MadPriest's likening living in the Sydney Diocese under Jensen and his ilk as being like Living in the shadow of the Dark Tower. His blog comment

head of family firm begins
his move to grab power

says it all.

Preparations for Pope's visit?????

In a centrefold satirical take of the year 2007 in the Sydney Morning Herald (does not seem to be online).
"Sydney began its preparation for a papal visit at Royal Randwick racecourse, chosen for its ample experience in dealing with small men in ridiculous sik clothing. The NSW Parliament also made last minute amendments to smooth his visit: banning protesters and advertising(True), and re-legalising homosexual vilification."

The Hypocrisy of the Sydney Diocese

In reading the sad affairs at the Mission of St Nicholas in the Diocese of San Joaquin at Southern Cone Attempts to Remove Episcopal Vicar, I was struck by the message from the ex-bishop's lackey
"Reserved sacrament will be provided by the Rural Dean, Fr. Ron Parry, or by me if necessary."
Excuse me but did I not read that the Diocese of Sydney had sent messages of congratulations to the ex-Bishop of San Joaquin. Yet anyone in Sydney knows that the reservation of the sacrament is illegal in this diocese. But then we all know that the Diocese ignores the lay presidency that occurs illegally in this diocese as well.

I am also disgusted to read that ++Peter Jensen was at the meeting of the bishops et al. in Africa recently to organise what they are calling ‘Global Anglican Future Conference’. His idea of the future of Anglicanism and mine are radically different. I do not consider myself beholden to hypocrites like ++ Peter Jensen and his fellow rats.

Christmas Sermon by Father jake

I am finding such wonderful gems in the world of Blogs
Please read http://frjakestopstheworld.blogspot.com/