Friday, January 24, 2014

Priesthood

Today's commemoration was about Li Tim-Oi, the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion in 1944. There are many fascinating things about this woman, born in Hong Kong in 1907 and dying in Canada in 1992. She was a woman who worked tirelessly with refugees from China, and having attended a four-year college, had worked for years as a Deacon. Only after three years had passed when there was no priest available to bless the Eucharist did the Bishop of Victoria, Ronald Hall, call her to become ordained. Interestingly, ordaining a woman was compared with Peter’s conversion of Cornelius, the Roman centurion considered to be the first convert among the Gentiles.

Within the Episcopal Church, it appears that there’s an average of 20 to 25% women priests, and incoming priests are approximately 50/50 male and female. Ordination of women is still quite controversial within the church, and the more conservative Anglicans do not ordain women.  Li Tim-Oi was a pioneer for women church leaders.
 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Gloria Patri

With our daily Morning Prayer services, we find that we are saying the Gloria Patri (Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now, and will be forever.  Amen.) a lot!  And in the spirit of actually thinking about what we're saying, if you look at that one sentence, the amount of doctrine, faith and covenant contained therein is huge! 

There are treatises, commentaries and entire books written about the Gloria Patri, also known as the Lesser Doxology.  It speaks directly to the eternality of Jesus the Christ:  "Those who affirmed the truth of Scripture were singing other songs. Among them is one we sing with some frequency: the Gloria Patri. The words "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end" were fighting words to defend the truth that Jesus Christ is eternal. The Virgin Birth was the birth of none other than God himself. "


You can find the Gloria Patri in Latin, beautiful versions such as Gregorian Chants.  The video on the left, however, is from an explanation on the Abyssinian Mass, and goes into not only the meaning, but how that meaning can be translated musically, including the Trinity in the musical patterns. 

So next time you find yourself saying the Gloria Patri - slow down.  Think about the meaning, and all that is contained in that one short sentence.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Disaster Preparedness

This is actually a placeholder, in which these sites can be shared and I can be certain to find them again in the future.  These hold very useful information for individuals, families and parishes.  We're working on putting something together to create a useful framework for the town.

Planning for Pandemics

A Resource Library which includes a ton of forms, handbooks and lists of what you'll need for a variety of disaster types.

15 Downloads of handbooks and manuals for complete disasters and what to do.