Tis the Season for Church Meetings (and Fake Twitter Accounts at the Same)

June and July are prime time for meetings of various church bodies. The Southern Baptist Convention, the granddaddy of such gatherings in the United States in terms of size and influence is going on as I write this and my friends in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church concluded what was by all accounts their most harmonious meeting in a long time this afternoon. The Presbyterian Church in America's General Assembly  will be meeting next week in Greenville, South Carolina. My own Reformed Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in North America aren't meeting this summer and The Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have the year off too, which is probably a good thing.

Being a bit of an admitted church geek I enjoy keeping tabs on some judicatories and Twitter is great for doing so; the Pope tweets and any who are inclined to follow me can do so here. It's a useful tool for up to date information, but it's not above giving rise to some (usually) good-natured mischief that can be quite entertaining. In this year's special election for Congress from the First Congressional District of South Carolina a myriad of fake accounts arose for various candidates (some of which were less than good natured) and a Twitter debate was even organized among the various fake accounts by Earl Capps. It seems that frequently tedious church meetings are also fertile ground for them as well. They can be entertaining and so what follows are some of the ones that I have followed, some of which are quite funny (although those not familiar with the back story may not fully get the joke); listing here does not constitute endorsement:

@PCA Liberal: It could probably also be called PC(USA) Conservative. "Intrigued by BioLogos, paedo-communion, female deacons, Karl Barth, NT Wright, to name a few." Other than paedo-communion I don't endorse any of those, but it can be entertaining.

@FakeARPClerk: Ostensibly the inner voice of the Rev'd Dr. Ron Beard, longtime Principal Clerk of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, who is a friend. This tweet was quite funny.

@ARPModerator: As is the case with the Pope's account, this one changes based on who holds the office. Except that it's not really real, but it is really amusing.

@ARP_Curmudgeon: Likes Marrow in his ham-bones and in his theology (the ARPs have taken fake Twitter accounts to a nearly unprecedented level, particularly on a per capita basis).

@herselfthebishop: No longer active, it was ostensibly from Dr. Katherine Jefferts Schori. There may have been a lawsuit, I don't know.

@ChrchCurmudgeon: Non-denominational and without specific geographic reference. I feel like I've known the guy, because I have.

@CelebrityPastor: By an unnamed megachurch pastor. Very funny.

If you appreciate satire, and I do, these feeds can be entertaining.

‘Is you is or is you ain’t my clergy?’ Local clergy called to decision

[From the June 2013 Charleston Mercury.]

By Charles A. Collins, Jr.

The oft-covered Louis Jordan song asks of a sweetheart “Is you is or is you ain’t my baby?” It’s a question that attempts to DTR – define the relationship — and recently the Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg, provisional bishop of the Episcopal Church in South Carolina (the structure set up for the minority of parishes and clergy who wished to remain a part of The Episcopal Church after that body’s October move against the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence and the Diocese of South Carolina) sought to do just that as he contacted each of the approximately 140 clergy who did not respond to his call to convention earlier this year and asked them to make their allegiance known. In a letter dated April 7, vonRosenberg cautioned that priests and deacons “face a very serious decision, with significant consequences” for them and the church and encouraged their careful and prayerful consideration.

Read more.

Aubrey Alling Jones, R.I.P.

When I first decided to attend Georgia Military College (where, I am quick to point out, I was in the Corps of Cadets -- it was a different school than it is now, just an observation) on of the first letters that I received was from A. Alling Jones, the-then Alumni Director (I can't recall exactly what his title was) and I remember specifically it referencing "when you pass through those historic gates" somewhere in the course of it; it was a form letter and he did not then know me from Adam's housecat but the phrase stuck with me. Later on, during my time as a cadet I needed some bit of information for, as I recall, a dining-in and so I went to see him and had a good time visiting with him. I got the information that I needed and we saw each other occasionally during the rest of my time there. After I graduated -- and became an alumnus -- I got to know Alling better, especially after he engineered my election to the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association some years later.

Alling had trained in the law and practiced it for a time, but he loved GMC and so he was happy to go and work there, doing yeoman's work keeping alumni connected with the school. He also taught French and, somewhat unusually, enrolled at Georgia College after completing college and a law degree to obtain a second bachelor's degree in French so that he could teach the language at GMC (I know he taught in the prep school and he may have taught in the college as well -- languages not being my forte, I stayed far, far away during my time there). Such was his love of learning and of the school that he'd attended as a younger man. Alling had done some work at Duke Divinity School but ultimately decided on the law and when he found out I was headed to seminary he made a point of giving me my first Greek Lexicon; I still have it.  

Some time after that he left the Alumni Office at GMC, going on to do other things including serving as a municipal judge, but his love for the institution endured.

Alling was an active Episcopalian and communicant at St. Stephen's Church in Milledgeville. When he found out that I'd swum the Thames and moved from the Presbyterianism of my upbringing he heartily congratulated me on the decision. I last visited him in December 2006 while in Milledgeville; it was a good time of catching up but he'd had some health problems. Some time ago I'd gotten wrod from a mutual friend that he'd moved to a nursing home and he had been remembered in my prayers for some time. I had hope to visit him when I got back to Milledgeville.

Judge Aubrey Alling Jones died this morning, and I regret that I'll not have a chance for that visit but I give thanks for his friendship and a life well lived. May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

No Charmed Lives

The temptation to think that others lead charmed lives -- lives free of worry, stress, or failure -- presents itself all too easily. I wish that clergy were immune, but we're not. Those serving in small parishes can be envious of those serving in larger ones that are experiencing substantial growth and, as in other places where jealousy rears it's ugly head there's nearly always someone whose parish is bigger and/or growing faster than yours (just as there's always someone who is richer, more successful, and has more toys). Among clergy and among churches there are few more prominent or larger than the Rev'd Dr. Rick Warren and Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. Beginning with 200 people (a crowd for which many of us would be thankful) in 1980 it grew to more than 22,000 in weekly attendance in the following three decades while launching a global AIDS ministry, planting new churches, and spawning a number of Purpose Driven books.

I had heard of Rick Warren, read some of his work, and seen him on television in 2009. I knew that he'd given the invocation at the Inauguration of Barack Obama, something that had raised the hackles of some on both the right and the left, and shortly thereafter learned that he was to speak at the Inaugural Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America in Bedford, Texas. Although I was not one of the delegates from my diocese, it was an historic even for which I wanted to be present so I went at my own expense as an observer. There was some grumbling when it was announced that Dr. Warren would be speaking (I admit to being one of the grumblers) but when he gave his address in a massive air-conditioned tent on sweltering hot Texas day I and most others in attendance were favorably impressed. Since that time I've followed him on Twitter and appreciated his insights, realizing that while he and I don't quite do church the same way (I'm, uh, a little more formal and traditional) we worship the same Lord and I wish that I would have a fraction of his humility and devotion to Christ.

But yet, not even Rick Warren lived a charmed life, free of troubles. His son, Matthew, struggled with depression for years and today took his own life. Obviously he, his wife Kay, and the rest of their family need prayers at this time and they have them. I trust that the church that he's pastored will pastor him and them in these trying days. 

It has been my privilege to get to know some other very successful people -- men and women who have excelled in their fields and, in many cases have amassed great riches. As I have gotten to know them and count many of them as friends I've often learned of great tragedies, losses, and failures that they've experienced. The Tenth Commandment guards against jealousy and covetousness and  we need that warning -- as much as we'd like to think so, no one leads a life free from pain and those experiences are the crucibles that forge us, grow us, and (for those who are Christians) fit us for God's Kingdom.

Former Missionary to France to Speak at St. Thomas Church, Moncks Corner

N.B., the following press release about an upcoming speaker at St. Thomas Church , of which I am the Vicar, may be of interest. We'd love to have you join us. -- DC+)

Former Missionary to France to Speak at St. Thomas Church, Moncks Corner

Dianne and the Rev'd Canon William "Bill" Jerdan

      The Rev'd Canon William S. Jerdan, Executive Secretary of the Reformed Episcopal Board of Foreign Missions, will preach at St. Thomas Church, a Reformed Episcopal parish of the Anglican Church in North America, on September 16 at 11am. St. Thomas Church is located at 668 Murraysville Road in Moncks Corner.

     Canon Jerdan is no stranger to the South Carolina Lowcountry as his father, the late Rt. Rev. William H.S. Jerdan, came to South Carolina in 1958 to oversee what was then known as the Southern Missionary Jurisdiction of the Reformed Episcopal Church and led in its organization as the Diocese of the Southeast in 1973; Bishop Jerdan later served as Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church from 1987 to 1990. Canon Jerdan is a graduate of Wheaton College (Illinois) and Reformed Episcopal Seminary. Following pastoral ministry in Pennsylvania he and his wife Dianne went to France as missionaries in 1972 where he worked in church planting with the Evangelical Reformed Protestant Church of France, founding four congregations before returning to the United States in 2009. In conjunction with his current work with the Board of Foreign Missions, the Jerdans participate in missionary work in countries as diverse as Germany, Croatia, West Africa, Cambodia, and Nepal. They have four grown children and a number of grandchildren.

     For more information, contact the Rev'd Charles A. Collins, Jr., Vicar of St. Thomas, at (843) 608-1796 or visit the parish website at: http://www.sttthomasrec.org

Politics, Peril, and Pastoral Integrity

The candidacy of Mitt Romney presents a unique challenge to conservative Christians in general and members of the clergy in particular. As a conservative who first got politically active during Ronald Reagan's re-election campaign (I was 14) and has followed politics and been active to various degrees since then, I do not want to see Barack Obama re-elected.  While not my first choice, Mitt Romney is the nominee and is the first Mormon become the candidate of a major party and as such, questions will be asked about his religion. I have no doubt that Romney is a good, moral, and decent man, a loving father, and a smart businessman. I'd be happy to have him as a next door neighbor -- the same is true of most Mormons whom I have known through the years -- many of whom I count as friends. I have used the Family Research Center at the Latter-day Saints church in Charleston and have found it full of information with a friendly and helpful staff.

Almost exactly two years ago Glenn Beck -- also a practitioner of the Mormon religion --  assembled his Restoring Honor Rally on the National Mall in Washington. The Rev'd Dr. Russell Moore wrote the best Christian response to that event, "God, the Gospel, and Glenn Beck" and I wrote a couple of blog posts as well, which you can view here and here. Most of what Moore and I wrote about Beck also extends to Mitt Romney. Over the next few months the temptations to suggest that Mormonism and the orthodox Christianity are compatible will be great for conservative Christians who are inclined to support Romney -- one certainly doesn't want to stir up controversy about one's own candidate -- and those of us who are ordained will likely be asked about Mormonism. The temptation to portray them as just another branch of Christianity will be considerable.

It's imperative that Christians -- and especially clergy -- not yield to that temptation, even if we support Governor Romney. In a day when fuzzy theology dominates greater clarity is needed. This doesn't mean that a Christian ipso facto shouldn't support a Mormon candidate for President? No, but it does mean that when the subject arises we do not need to gloss over the very real differences that exist. Particularly as a priest, I will one day stand before God and give account as to how faithfully I proclaimed His Word and shepherded His flock; I will not be asked how faithfully I supported any party's nominee. Ultimately no election is worth compromising the Christian faith.

2016 Obama's America

In the late Summer of 1994 I headed off to seminary in Due West, South Carolina, renting an apartment in nearby Abbevlle. Since I moved in several weeks before classes actually started I made use of the luxury of a nearby seminary library to do some reading; somewhere in the stacks -- possibly in the college section -- I stumbled across Dinesh D'Souza's Illiberal Education. I'd heard of D'Souza before but this was my first serious exposure to his work and I was impressed with his analysis, thoughts, and cogency. I've followed him through the years with much approbation and not a little jealousy -- he did, after all, once date the lovely and brilliant Laura Ingraham, but I digress.

When I started hearing of the release of 2016: Obama's America last month on The Michael Berry Show I knew that I needed to see it when it came to the area. It opened in three South Carolina theaters on 17 August, but sadly the closest one is Columbia at present (there is a possibility that it may be coming to the Lowcountry at some point in the near future), so up I-26 I trekked this afternoon. 

This is an exceptionally well made movie. It's engaging, interesting, and profoundly disturbing.  Based on the premise that most people do not know exactly who the 44th President of the United States is, D'Souza sets out to discover exactly that and to gain an idea of what his formative influences were. Noting the uncanny similarities between himself and President Obama (they were born in the same year, Ivy League educated, spent part or all of their youths in Asia, were influenced by an anti-colonial mindset, graduated from college the same year, and were married the same year -- among others), D'Souza presents a not-unsympathic look at the forces that formed Obama.

Despite the fact that his first biography was entitled Dreams From My Father, it's clear that Barack Obama, Sr, was present in the life of his young son more as an idea than a true influence -- they had practically no contact save for a visit when he was roughly ten years of age and a brief period of correspondence after that, but yet in a very real way he was always there, held up as an idealized role model by his mother Stanley Ann Dunham -- the radical daughter of a radical father whose influence on his life cannot be underestimated. Following his parents' divorce and his mother's remarriage to Lolo Soetoro and a move to Indonesia, his mother was disappointed when his step-father turned out to be too establishment, happily accepting promotions and social invitations as his career advanced. This strained the relationship and young Barry was sent to live with his grandparents in Hawaii where a newspaperman and card-carrying Communist named Frank Marshall Davis was drafted by his grandfather as a role model for him.

D'Souza visits the places where Obama grew up, interviewing friends and family members to discern what the formative influences were on the man who currently sits behind the desk in the Oval Office. If you're looking for claims that Obama was born in Kenya, or that he's a Muslim, or that Frank Marshall Davis is actually his father, look on. If you're wanting to learn more about the "Choom Gang" and the President's youthful drug use, this won't fit the bill either. What D'Souza does accomplish is presenting a believable case for the anti-imperialistic, anti-colonial, far-left convictions of the father being transferred to the son, reflecting how he governs. Should President Obama win another four years in the White House, D'Souza is convinced that the country will look far different than it does today -- a weakened country where government redistribution of wealth has taken place on an unprecedentedly large scale -- when Obama speaks of the 1% and the 99% he doesn't mean within American society but worldwide, meaning that is is very intentionally weakening the position of the United States in a pursuit of what he perceives to be justice.

Regardless of what your thoughts are on Barack Obama -- whether you supported him in 2008 or not and regardless of whether you're planning to support him in November -- you will learn something from this movie. I encourage you to see it.