tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post8800781837693324838..comments2024-02-15T03:32:25.686-05:00Comments on Preludium, Anglican and Episcopal futures: Bishop Lawrence on Bishop BrentMark Harrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06871096746243771489noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-51745836080331048282008-04-01T12:54:00.000-04:002008-04-01T12:54:00.000-04:00Bishop Lawrence's sddress is really very well put ...Bishop Lawrence's sddress is really very well put together. Here in Buffalo, NY we have a small Brent Society that meets weekly to discuss the life and works of Bishop Brent followed by ccompline. We have also found his work remarkably fresh and meaningful at the individual level. A constant theme with Brent is individual transformation. He was more the mystic than the theologian. The spiritual leader today that is most like Brent is the Dali Lama. Its a rare mystic indeed that can make such an impact on the world stage.<BR/><BR/>-KevinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-36443539653082785142008-03-27T18:07:00.000-04:002008-03-27T18:07:00.000-04:00Wonderful post. I was lucky to find it today on Br...Wonderful post. I was lucky to find it today on Brent's feast day!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-2484215454661195992008-02-17T07:44:00.000-05:002008-02-17T07:44:00.000-05:00Well, to put it myself, since the good Prior menti...Well, to put it myself, since the good Prior mentioned my comments:<BR/><BR/>Bishop Brent was against the colonial American Protestant policy of "re-Christianizing" the majority Catholic population of the Philippines. This was one great ecumenical achievement; he felt that Christianity had already reached the Philippines thanks to the Spanish Catholics and that he could only go to where the Gospel had not been preached.<BR/><BR/>I think this achievement, as mentioned to Prior Aelred, has had the unintended effect of turning the Episcopal Church in the Philippines into a haven for people of certain ethnicities, which I think cannot be reconciled as such with the idea of a catholic vision of the Church. I think that the witness of the ECP to a different kind of catholicity has been weakened by this tendency. <BR/><BR/>But it has been changing, I think, and this is a point Prior Aelred and all readers deserve to know. One <A HREF="http://www.holytrinity.ph" REL="nofollow">parish in Metro Manila</A> now has a vestry that represents two of the major ethnic groups who are part of the ECP, not to mention expatriates and the lowlanders, a group hitherto silent in the ECP. Also, those dioceses which have significant cosmopolitan urban centers are struggling, literally, to reach out to groups that have never heard not only of the Gospel, but of the Anglican Way of being Christian. Finally, and I am sure Fr. Mark might be interested in this, efforts are being made to introduce the Episcopal tradition to the wider Roman Catholic community through one of its most prominent theological centers. This is something in which I will be involved.<BR/><BR/>I am glad that Fr. Mark has drawn attention to Bishop Brent twice already in this year alone; we need to hear again from the wisdom of this turn-of-the-century visionary who touched people's lives for Christ in my native land.Renhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14539229600863141024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-88192511185936519302008-02-06T11:13:00.000-05:002008-02-06T11:13:00.000-05:00I received some comments about Bishop Brent from a...I received some comments about Bishop Brent from a Filipino friend on Facebook who pointed out a major flaw in the generous missionary policy of Bishop Brent -- by not missionizing the Roman Catholics, but going exclusively to the pagan tribes & the Muslims, he made the Philippine Episcopal Church a gathering of tribal peoples which does not welcome converts from the RC Church (admittedly, this is second hand information, but it makes sense in the iron law of unintended consequences).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-43616162924956913222008-02-05T10:49:00.000-05:002008-02-05T10:49:00.000-05:00For all his insight on leadership, +Lawrence still...For all his insight on leadership, +Lawrence still has his blinders on as he continues to speak about the "national" church and ignoring the overseas dioceses where really innovative things and growth are going on. Ignoring such an exciting part of the life of TEC is, in itself, the lack of leadership that he criticizes.<BR/><BR/>Thomas+Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10326675.post-58612669549612942432008-02-05T10:02:00.000-05:002008-02-05T10:02:00.000-05:00I have to confess that I have not yet read the ent...I have to confess that I have not yet read the entire address, yet the quote you included from Bishop Lawrence echoes what I hear more and more from our younger clergy and parishioners - even such people as young gay clergy who are partnered and living in rectories. <BR/><BR/>You know, Mark, I think this is more than just normal generational differences or the idealism of youth - the younger Church is demanding proof that the direction the present leadership has taken the Church over the last 30 years has really been a good direction to go. Most, with obvious exceptions, seem to agree with a statement from a young, black former seminarian friend of mine who says, "I can't wait until the present generation leaves leadership so that we can get back to being the Church!" He is not a "reasserting conservative," by the way. This isn't a simplistic "conservative" vs. "liberal" consideration. This is more than a new generation chomping-at-the-bit to change everything. As the infamous Betty Butterfield pleads, “I just want to do it the normal way!” <BR/><BR/>Bishop Lawrence, from the quote you've included, has touched on an important consideration. Whether one agrees with his theology or not, he touches on a problem that I find too many in current leadership will not adequately address (or perhaps will not/cannot understand). IMHO - OCICBWBob G+https://www.blogger.com/profile/04882646624853042759noreply@blogger.com