Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Anglican Church in North America’s Upper Midwest Diocese had known since 2019 that former lay minister Mark Rivera had been charged with felony child sexual abuse. But he did not tell people in his diocese about the abuse allegations until last month — which Ruch has called a “regrettable error.”
Some—perhaps even most—baptized Christians might find the sacrament’s irreversibility reassuring, a source of hope during the darkest hours of the night. Nothing they do, nothing done to them, will ever separate them from Christ, into whose death and resurrection they were baptized. Nor will anything separate them from Christ’s body—the Church universal—of which the baptized are individual members.
Imagine surviving a shipwreck. Imagine yourself feeling the fear of seeing the waves break apart pieces of ship, along with the sensation of sinking, of panic, and of gasping for air. Imagine losing not only your belongings, but also watching other people fight for their lives. Imagine nearly drowning, being washed ashore, or being rescued with barely an ounce of strength left. You’re traumatized, weather-beaten, and exhausted to the point of semi-consciousness.
We’re talking about the New Testament plus Jon whiffs the glossary question and we lament the challenges of technology in worship
The Rev. Hannah Wilder joins to discuss the story of John the Baptizer’s death at the hands of King Herod from this week’s gospel, the implications for our spiritual lives, and what conversations at home will be like based on these gospel themes.
A conversation about our 2021 Spotify Playlist
We begin our look into what the catechism has to say about the Bible and more.
“God does not take care of Grandma and Grandpa in the way that I as a small child expected. After all, Grandma and Grandpa died. God takes care of them in a more essential way. God stands in a never-ending relationship with us, a relationship in which we are one with everything that exists.”
“This sentence especially touches me: “When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.” The image of drawing up his feet and peacefully dying has such a poignancy about it. It represents a death many of us would hope for, yet, denied to so many, especially in the time of the continuing pandemic, war, and violence.”
“I wonder…
I really do…
if we could buttonhole Mark
in a corner of the café
where the company of saints
sips espresso”