The Archive
Tag: Mission
Are Quebeckers largely non-practicing Catholics?
“Since church attendance collapsed in the province in the 1960s, at least two secular generations have marched through life hardly tasting a Eucharist wafer or hearing an angelus bell, while the Council for Quebec’s Religious Heritage estimates that 20 churches a year are sold or torn down.”
The ABC on the Millenium Development Goals
A video message from the Archbishop of Canterbury as the High Level Meeting to review the progress of the Millennium Development Goals begins at the UN.
Recognizing the divine in the other
“We don’t want to mess with others who are different. That’s hard work. It takes a lot to hear somebody else’s story. We don’t want to do the hard work. We don’t want our lives to change. “But imagine if we became known as the people who are able to greet the other and say, ‘Namaste, the God in me greets the God in you.'”
ABC on UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
We want to appeal to our governments not to step back from the commitments they have made, to make the best use of their own resources and to build up the resources of others for work together towards a world that we can be proud to live in – a world in which our responsibility for each other is truly and fully exercised, where we can really celebrate the life and welfare of all.” ~~Archbishop of Canterbury
A missional moment with dessert…
A few minutes later “Amanda” … our waitress … came up to the table to say that she’d encouraged Michael to come talk to us because she’d found him crying in the kitchen after listening to our conversations. She was raised Catholic but it “didn’t fit” anymore and she wanted to know where she should go to find an Episcopal Church.
Annoying mission
When I hear mission, I hear, periphery. I hear hierarchy. I hear separation. I hear paternalism. All of that makes me tired indeed. I wonder what might happen if mission was recognized as the organizing principle of the baptismal life and of the beloved community?
Hurricane Katrina and “the rest” of New Orleans
Like most who visit New Orleans, its identity for me was defined by the French Quarter: the food, the music, the funky vibe of walking the streets. For seven years we lived three hours from the Crescent City, two and half if you didn’t stop. Becky and I spent several anniversaries there with a common agenda: wake up to a leisurely courtyard breakfast, walk the streets, eat lunch, head to antique shops for more walking, eat dinner, and walk the streets some more.
VOTE: help New Orleans’ Jericho Road get an orchard
While many resources have been directed to construction and social services, the neighborhood still lacks green space, fresh food, and environmental education opportunities. A fruit tree orchard would fulfill these unmet needs and contribute to Jericho Road’s holistic approach to neighborhood revitalization.
Too much mission?
When I hear the word mission, I hear the word work, or job. I work all week long. I get spiritually depleted. I go to church to be fed so I can resume that work. If instead of food, what I get is another set of assignments, I get tired. I suspect that I am not alone in this.