Professor Katherine Grieb reflects from Mid-Court at Lambeth

One of the most outstanding teachers I have ever had was Dr. Kathy Grieb, who is a theologian and New Testament scholar currently teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS). She is not only a great scholar and teacher, but has also been chosen to serve on several Anglican commissions, including the Covenant Design Team. She is thoughtful and brilliant, and also just a fine person to be around. She increased my understanding of and appreciation of St. Paul as we moved slowly and intensively through his Letter to the Galatians over the course of a semester. Today, she is in Canterbury and has offered a reflection "from mid-court" from the VTS hospitality "booth" on hospitality and on our calling as Christians to welcome the stranger...

Check out this wonderful quote:

"How do we become proclaimers of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our own day? Perhaps the first step is to acknowledge the profound mystery at the heart of every other person – even the one I thought I knew well. In the risen Christ, every one is a new creation. "

Thank you Kathy!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey


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7/22/2008

from The Virginia Theological Seminary's Center for Anglican Communion Studies

From Mid-Court

Today is the feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene, the “apostle to the apostles” who first proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus to Peter and the Beloved Disciple. For me, the day began with Matins and the Eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral before catching the bus to the University of Kent where the Lambeth Conference is meeting.

The words from John’s Gospel continually amaze me: “She turned and saw Jesus, but she did not know that it was Jesus.” Mary Magdalene recognizes Jesus only after he calls her by name. At first, she thought she was addressing a stranger, a gardener: “Sir, if you know where they have taken him….” Instead, she herself is addressed by the risen Lord she knows and loves who appears to her in a form she had not quite expected.

What a gift it is to have this lesson to help frame the events of today. In so many ways, the Lambeth Conference is an extended family reunion. Our days at the VTS booth are spent offering hospitality and sending greetings, to long-known family members and to distant relatives whom we are meeting for the first time. In both cases we are blessed whenever we can recognize something of the risen Christ in one another.

How do we become proclaimers of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our own day? Perhaps the first step is to acknowledge the profound mystery at the heart of every other person – even the one I thought I knew well. In the risen Christ, every one is a new creation. The bishops of the Anglican Communion are meeting one another anew in “indaba” groups (“indaba” is a Zulu word that means “respectful encounter”). And here, at the VTS booth, we are encountering new and old friends from all over the Communion for conversations that take us more deeply into the meaning of the risen Christ.

So without knowing what the day will bring, I wait expectantly to be delighted by the stranger who is the friend in Christ I haven’t yet met.

Katherine Grieb

From Lambeth ... from Mid-Court

...from Virginia Theological Seminary's "Center for Anglican Communion Studies" ...




7/21/2008
From Lambeth...

From Mid-Court

Well, here we are at the Lambeth Conference in a place called Canterbury. Our VTS “booth” or hospitality center is located at the Lambeth Markeplace in the Sports Centre of the University of Kent. That seems to be an appropriate location for us at this Wimbledon of Anglicanism. We are watching the fast volleys from our courtside perch! No match-point yet!

All kidding aside, you cannot miss the gravity of this event. In the history of the Communion, the Conference may be its most critical hour. It is a time which calls for great sacrifice and wisdom, and so we pray fervently for all the delegates and all who surround and support them.

Last week, the initial days in retreat with Rowan Williams set the right tone. The Archbishop met with his guests in the great nave of Canterbury Cathedral.

His opening address last evening left the impression that Anglicans will have a “Covenant” as this Conference concludes.

But there seems to me to be a larger question than the proposed Anglican Covenant: Will the Conference find the Anglican Communion recovering its religious imagination?

We have misplaced one of the great gifts of Anglicanism to the rest of Christendom: The ability to think outside the box and to imagine a church and a world that does not yet exist. Will we be clear about what we value as Anglicans in a changing church and world once we go home from this sacred place? How do we nurture Gospel values in a church conversation that could dwell on misplaced values? Our history teaches us that we are a broad church, but of late we have asked narrow questions and taken narrow positions. As we deal with current matters, are we connected with our long history and our early church identity? Can we imagine a new Church for this historic Christian way called Anglican?

Barney Hawkins

Barney Hawkins reflects on trip to Sudan

The Rev Dr. Barney Hawkins of the Center for Anglican Communion Studies at VTS reflects on his trip to the Sudan....

...I have posted it below, or you can read it HERE.

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5/13/2008

REFLECTIONS ON MY TRIP TO THE SUDAN

I returned from the Sudan on April 23. Since then, not one day has gone by that I have not thought about my visit and the people I met. I traveled to the Sudan for the enthronement service for the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul (VTS ’97) on Sunday, April 20. It was quite a journey: Washington to Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. I spent one night in Kampala, Uganda and connected with the delegation from “815” and my former student and friend, the Rev. Robert Marshall. He represented the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia which has had a long companion diocese relationship with the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. On April 19 we departed for Juba, the capitol of the Southern Government of the Sudan.

From the moment we arrived in Juba, gracious hospitality was always present. On the day of our arrival, the Diocese hosted us for dinner on the grounds of the Cathedral. On the day of the enthronement service, there was hospitality all day long. The actual service lasted four hours, but no one was watching the clock. In the afternoon until the sun set, there were speeches and skits to honor the new Archbishop and his family. It was a festive and fun time. In the evening, the Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul hosted all out of town guests for a dinner at a camp on the banks of the Nile. It was a long day, and a day to remember.

The Archbishop of Rwanda preached the sermon at the enthronement service. He and Daniel Deng Bul had studied at VTS at the same time. The Archbishop of Kenya in his charge to the new Archbishop warned: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” Going with others as a leader has been the hallmark of Daniel Deng Bul’s significant ministry in the church and public square in the Sudan. He is a voice for the voiceless. He is a voice for peace in his troubled land. He is the voice of both reason and hope.

Last week there were incursions from Chad which threatened the government in Khartoum. Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim has promised to launch more attacks until the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum is brought down. There is a very fragile peace between Khartoum in the north and Juba in the south. By 2011 the peace agreement between Khartoum (Islam) and Juba (Christian) must be ratified. After hearing the President of the Southern Government and the Governor of the state of which Juba in the capitol, I am deeply concerned about the prospects for peace. Darfur adds another sad dimension to the story. It is a country divided by religion and material resources. It is a country ravaged by war and poverty. Such conditions do not make for easy conversation to resolve differences.

For one bright moment on April 20 at a joyful enthronement service, however, the Christian flock in Juba was full of hope about the future. The Most Rev. Daniel Deng Bul is a servant leader who follows closely the One who is the hope and promise of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of us all. I experienced Gospel hospitality during my brief time in the Sudan. This Gospel hospitality is an outward and visible sign of the hope which lives within the Sudanese people. The future of the Sudan is ultimately in God’s hands, the God of Peace and Justice whom we know in the Risen Lord.

The Rev. Barney Hawkins, Ph.D.
Executive Director, CACS