Tag Archive for 'twitter'

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priest is my altar ego

Published on November 18, 2009 in liturgy. 25 Comments Tags: , , , .

Occasionally one encounters an internet troll. Their aim is merely to pick a fight. Recently I had a person on twitter take issue with my calling myself a priest.

This person claims to be a church leader (not a priest!) in a well-known denomination, claims to be able to read Greek, etc. But he could not and would not answer my simple question posed in different ways: “what is the origin of the English word priest?” Even after I twice sent him links on the etymology of the English word priest. Instead, I got a barrage of responses about Maryolatry, Christ’s unrepeatable sacrificial death, the inefficacy of works, the absence of Christ in the Eucharist, the priesthood of all believers, the evils of tradition, and on and on it went…

The word priest came up in last Sunday’s reading didn’t it:

Hebrews 10:11-14,(15-18),19-25

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,”
13 and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.”
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds,”
17 he also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The problem is akin to the issue with the English word “love”. Generally people have become more nuanced with that word, clarifying if they mean love (agape, αγάπη) or love (eros, ἔρως), etc. We need to do the same IMO with the word priest.

The English word priest derives from the Greek presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος), in fact it is a contraction that can still be spotted from the original word PRESbuTeros. [Just as the English word bishop derives from the Greek episcopos (επίσκοπος) and is also a contraction that can still be spotted from the original word: ePISCOPos.]

The word used in the letter to the Hebrews reading above, in the concept of priesthood of all believers, in the Old Testament for Levites, etc. is NOT presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος). It is a completely different word: hiereus (ἱερεύς). Unfortunately the English word priest does double duty. It is rightly used for the ordained elder in a community, the presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος), as it has from the beginning of Christianity. It has also come to be used for hiereus (ἱερεύς).

Unfortunately, because of this simple dual usage of the English word, theological confusion reigns. Many abandon the Christian tradition going back to the New Testament of leadership by a priest/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) on some sort of misunderstood assumption that our shared hiereus (ἱερεύς) has overthrown the New Testament and undivided-church tradition of such leadership by a priest/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος). Unfortunately the prevalence of clericalism in some quarters, where priest/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) is treated as some sort of sacred caste, has in fact made the issue worse, not better.

Because of the misunderstanding between the terms, many think and act as if getting the laity to act more like a priest/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) is somehow affirming the priesthood of all believers when it does nothing of the sort – it is unfortunately merely clericalising all the baptised rather than affirming and living any real vocation to our shared hiereus (ἱερεύς) with Christ. Getting laity up the front in worship and dressing them priest/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος)-like, advocating for the abolition of priestly/presbuteros (πρεσβύτερος) presiding at the Eucharist, and so forth is not about understanding the hiereus (ἱερεύς) of all Christians whatsoever, it is merely showing an ignorance of the multi-faceted vocations that are offered within the one body of Christ, the church.

No comments from internet trolls please :-)

I provide wonderful resources for those who genuinely want to work harder at understanding the original biblical texts.

Silent Matrix

Published on November 15, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I am an avid fan of the Matrix and the way that it tells the story of Christ (amongst other stories). My followers on twitter will be aware of my passion even from my profile image.

Here is a video from the Russian actor’s group “Big Difference” (Bolshaya Raznitsa / Большая Разница): What if Matrix was shot in the silent films’ era? Enjoy!

If you have never seen the Matrix, here is a 5 second summary which should help you understand the previous video:

UPDATE Since I put up the above two videos, I have been shown the following also: “Matrix Runs on Windows XP”

Ripples of a web presence

Published on November 6, 2009 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

If you are hesitant about getting online, starting a blog, organising a parish or group website, setting up a twitter profile – let me encourage you not to hesitate. Any of these are now so simple to set up, free, and easy to run. They need not be time-consuming. You may not know the positive good you are spreading through a ripple effect. I receive many tweets, comments, and emails affirming the value of a cyber-presence. Here is one recent email as an example

You may be interested to learn of the ripple effect of your website.  Some time ago I visited it after reading about your “Liturgy of the Notices” on the [...]  list.  After reading your recommendation I bought Benedictine Daily Prayer and began observing the Liturgy of the Hours.  I put a brief note about this on the [...] Facebook page, a site I check into very infrequently.  Another member contacted me about this after buying the book, asking for help in navigation, so I sent him the list of page numbers for a couple of offices and he figured it out after that.  His life has become so enriched from observing the hours, as has mine, he is now becoming a Benedictine Oblate.

Thank you for all your good work.  I’m sure there are many more blessings you’ve spread that you don’t even know about.

So if you have wondered whether to get online – I hope this post is the encouragement you need to give it a go.

End of Anglican Communion?

Published on October 21, 2009 in liturgy. 43 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Update: I am thrilled with the interest in this post, which is currently running about a reader every 8 seconds. It is also gratifying to see such helpful and positive comments. If there are any developments, rather than altering this post I think I would produce another – I already have some ideas in mind. So if you are interested, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or other ways of seeing what is new here.
Update: part 2 of this reflection is here

A few hours ago there was an absolute internet frenzy as people predicted and then reported, tweet by tweet, the announcement from the Vatican and the joint press conference by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Westminster.

Let me add my own initial thoughts to this confusing dust-cloud following the announcement that the pope will create “Personal Ordinariates” for Anglicans who wish to come home to Rome. Archbishop Rowan said that it would be a “serious mistake” to view the development as a response to the difficulties within the Anglican Communion. As we in New Zealand say: “Yeah right!”

To anyone who has been watching the direction that Pope Benedict has been moving, and those he has been welcoming into his fold, the commentary that this is “surprising” is itself surprising. Just to mention recent events that have been in the news: the reconciliation with Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson and his Society of St. Pius X, the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum” giving wider possibility to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, reconciliation with the traditionalist “Transalpine Redemptorists,” and so forth. I want to highlight some things I have not yet seen mentioned:

  • married priests in Anglican Personal Ordinariates will have to marry prior to ordination to the diaconate

They will not be able to marry after ordination. Should his wife die, or he gets divorced (sorry – his marriage is annulled) he will not be able to marry. Roman Catholic deacons can be married, but in order to do so, must be married prior to ordination. In the tweeting frenzy Scott Richert wrote, “There is no warrant in tradition for marrying AFTER receiving Holy Orders. None.” He may very well be right. I am genuinely interested in this point, and hope that people in the comments box below might provide evidence for or against this. My reply to him for clarification has not yet been responded to.

  • bishops in Anglican Personal Ordinariates are celibate
  • there has been no rescinding of Apostolicae Curae.

Anglican orders are not accepted by the Vatican. Anglican “priests” joining Anglican Personal Ordinariates in order to function as priests will have to be ordained twice (or at least conditionally ordained twice). And they will have to be males. Anglican “bishops” joining Anglican Personal Ordinariates in order to function as bishops will have to be ordained thrice (or at least conditionally ordained thrice). And they will have to be males. And celibate.

From a church (New Zealand Anglican) that leads Christian history in having created a “Tikanga” structure (where there are parallel episcopal jurisdictions according to cultural streams) I am intrigued by the concept of “Personal Ordinariates.” These are described by John Allen as “non-territorial diocese” (which sounds like an oxymoron to me!) My comment to Scott Richert and anyone else is: There is no warrant in tradition for “Personal Ordinariates.” None. But, of course, as usual, I am very very comfortable to be demonstrated wrong on this also. Please… anyone?

The end of the Anglican Communion?

As Mark Twain would say, “The reports of the end of the Anglican Communion are greatly exaggerated.” Andrew Brown, a regular person lining up for the funeral of the Communion, highlights his own weak grasp on the issues by declaring that only homosexuals can be celibate! Clearly heterosexuals, it would appear according to him, are either too weak or too immoral to be able to control their urges (not to mention that Andrew Brown is unable to distinguish doctrine from discipline). Scott Richert may have a slightly better grasp on the consequences for Anglicanism. Whilst no one would want to impugn curate’s-egg motives to the Archbishop of Canterbury, one cannot help wondering if there is just the flicker of a smile under that beard. In one Roman gesture he may be rid of, at one estimate, up to 2,000 of his CofE priests who have been holding out against his strong conviction for women in all three orders. Rowan Williams is well-known for ordaining openly practising homosexuals. Traditionalist Anglicans around the globe have struggled with women and with gays in a committed relationship being ordained. Commentators are repeatedly highlighting that this is an invitation from Rome to misogynists and homophobes.

In North America some Anglicans formed a new denomination The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). This brings together two extremes of the Anglican spectrum – Rome-facing and Geneva-facing. This marriage of convenience, like the 1977 followers of the Affirmation of St. Louis, cannot last, as, at its heart it is united around being against one thing. Rome’s declaration cannot but affect it. If the Rome-facing ACNA (married) bishops can stomach losing their purple, pectoral crosses, honorary doctoral gowns, and complex titles, they may yet lead their groups home to Rome. This will impact the attempt of some Anglicans to produce a “covenant”. Nigerian “Anglicans” have already formally removed the Archbishop of Canterbury from their constitution. Sydney Anglicans, leaders in GAFON/FOCA/Mainstream, are now not only struggling with theology, church history, and liturgical practice, but have recently realised they haven’t been that good at investments either (their $265 million assets are now worth $105 million). This Geneva-facing, congregationalist end of the Anglican spectrum does not need a Communion in the way that others see it. Rome’s announcement may help towards trimming off the extremes leaving an Anglican Communion that is certainly leaner but hopefully spending far less energy on peripherals and with a stronger focus on the end of the Communion, in the sense of the purpose of the church.

It is not the numbers inside the church that is ultimately significant IMO. It is the focus on service – in the two senses: our liturgical worship of God, and our service to God by our care of people and God’s world. Anglicanism may yet, through this, become more clearly a 21st century church episcopally led, synodically governed, and adapted for the particular context in which it finds itself, working “together with other Provinces and with our ecumenical and interfaith partners to promote God’s reign on earth.”

comments policy

part 2 of this reflection is here

part 3 of this reflection is here

GoD and DoG

Published on October 18, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 7 Comments Tags: , .

Don’t miss this awesome little 2 minute video. A simple idea with an anagram most, I suspect, had noticed previously – but this takes that so much further without belabouring it. Beautifully produced by Wendy Francisco.

Drawn to my attention on twitter by Barb. Thanks.

Mosaic Bible

Published on September 30, 2009 in liturgy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

One of my followers on twitter, Keith Williams, recently sent me a tweet that a new Bible, the Mosaic Bible, was coming out. Keith is the editor of this Bible.

As soon as it became available I ordered my copy of the Mosaic Bible (it has not yet arrived – hence, clearly, this post is a preview, not a review). I have a good collection of translations, I have studied Hebrew and Koine Greek for my theology degree, and I have a number of study and devotional Bibles. I think the Mosaic Bible will be an interesting, and I hope at times useful, addition to my collection.

The Mosaic Bible (and the adjective refers, possibly surprisingly, certainly confusingly, not to Moses but to a composite picture) is a two column edition of the Living Bible Translation with minimal study tools. In the front of this Bible is a clearly separate section with images, quotes, reading suggestions, reflections, and space for notes linked to the church year. . Another of my followers tweeted me that I am quoted a couple of times and this website referenced in this Bible (some other bloggers received a free review copy – I’m not complaining that I didn’t – does that make my preview and possible future review less biased? :-) Or does my being quoted and referenced lead to bias…?)

Try Mosaic Online Now

We are promised excellent contemporary and historical writings chosen from Christians across the globe such as St. Augustine, Charles Wesley, and Henri Nouwen (and, apparently, Bosco Peters!). There are icons in the margins of the text to indicate which Scripture passages are linked to which writings. There is attractive full-colour art from contemporary and historical artists. I will be interested to see the Greek and Hebrew word studies resources in the back.

Liturgical Year

The liturgical year in the Mosaic Bible assigns some readings and a theme to each of 53 weeks in the year. Weeks are assigned in a fairly normal manner from Advent to Pentecost. But in contemporary lectionaries (RCL; 3 Year Lectionary) from Pentecost to Advent (about half the year) readings are not assigned by “Sunday’s after Pentecost” as in the Mosaic Bible, but by the Sunday’s date (closest to an assigned date). This means there may generally be no correlation between readings suggested in the Mosaic Bible and readings read in a majority of the world’s churches for that Sunday for half the year. Furthermore, these contemporary lectionaries (RCL; 3 Year Lectionary) do not work to or from a “theme” but, especially for the half year I am referring to, provide a smorgasbord of readings to nourish the faithful. Finally, contemporary lectionaries provide a three year cycle. The Mosaic Bible only provides a one year cycle – hence, the chances that the readings of the Mosaic Bible are the same as in church would only about one in six!

I do not understand, however, why the official site states “This is the 20th week of Pentecost (”Creativity”), pg m278“. Sunday September 27 was the 17th Sunday after Pentecost. That was “Proper 21″ in BCP (TEC USA) organisation of the lectionary – so until I have my hands on the actual Bible, I will have to wait and see how this all pans out – but for those of you holding the book, or looking to purchase it in a shop – these might be some of the questions you could be asking. This may be a way that those who have never experienced the Judaio-Christian discipline of lectionary and church year get a taster for it – but it may also be a major leap from this to contemporary practice in these areas. For those familiar with the contemporary lectionary this may feel very Lectionary Lite.

What we in the liturgical, lectionary tradition could find seriously useful is a Bible which indicated when a particular text is read in church within the text such as is done in The Orthodox Study Bible or differently in The CTS New Catholic Bible A reverse lectionary in the Bible.

New Living Translation

The Living Bible was published in 1971. It was a paraphrase of the American Standard Version of 1901 by Kenneth Taylor. It became highly popular in the early 70s. In 1996 a revision, this time based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts, was published as as the New Living Translation. A complete reworking of this translation, still with the same title, but now called the “second edition” was published in 2004. Even further revisions were made in 2007 – but not only has the title New Living Translation been retained, but this later revision is still, extremely confusingly, called the “second edition”. The “second edition” in the Mosaic Bible excludes the deuterocanonical/apocryphal books of the Bible (so cannot be seen to be the Bible for over half of the world’s Christians). Some quick checks of some important translation texts would get a reasonable but not excellent score from me. Isaiah 7:14 has the translation of the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Masoretic in the text (which they state is being used). There is a footnote indicating the alternative – but not as in other (nearby) footnotes where there is honesty about which is the Hebrew and which is the Greek. Verses on atonement have not been skewed through a particular theory of atonement. This is worth comparing with the NIV and ESV. My own standard, after the original texts, is the NRSV – keeping a good eye on its footnotes. (I must acknowledge a natural innate prejudice against our English-language tendency to keep multiplying translations; I question whom it profits, whom it glorifies; I question the motivation and the slanting; a handful of different translations following different methodology and for different purposes might be justified, but in English we are well beyond handsandfeetful!)

Conclusion

In this preview I suggest if you have a number of Bibles and are looking for one that has a different devotional approach, consider seriously adding this to your collection. If, however, you are looking for the ONE Bible that will be your primary Bible for study and devotion – then I think that might be a good topic for a future blog post. Meanwhile I enthusiastically look forward to my (non-free, non-review, LOL) copy arriving.

Follow Mosaic Bible on twitter; Mosaic Bible Facebook page

Social media church 2.0

Published on September 25, 2009 in liturgy. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

This is a follow-up to my previous post: social media church
If this is the new world in which we live, how then might church change? How does this affect spirituality?

h/t to my e-friend Lori Deschene who writes:

“It’s easier than ever to reach a large audience, but harder than ever to connect with it.”

Of course it’s hard to connect with an audience that’s consuming so much media on a day-to-day basis.

A few other numbers I found:

  • At the rate we’re producing digital content, about 99.93% of it will not be read or used by anyone.
  • Jonathan Spira, Chief analyst at business research firm Basex estimates that lost productivity due to multitasking (emails, websites, etc) costs the US economy roughly $650 billion annually.
  • According to an IDC survey, people now spend 32.7 hours per week online–equivalent to half the time they spend on all media (70.6 hours). That’s 10 hours a day on average.
  • In a study of 18,000 people, Dave N. Greenfield of The Center for Internet Behavior–in conjunction with ABC News–found that 29% of respondents go online to “alter their mood or escape on a regular basis.”

Reid Goldsborough of Information Today suggests we’ve entered a state of “continuous partial attention” in response to information overload. He further explains that as the level of information input increases, our capacity to process and retain that information decreases.

Technological innovation is changing the way people behave – how are we responding? How could we participate and respond?

popularity of liturgy & worship?

Published on September 24, 2009 in liturgy. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

The search for the term “liturgy” on Google (top line) in the last six years has approximately halved. Online news about “liturgy” (bottom line) has grown a little in the same period:

searches for liturgy

searches for liturgy

The search for the term “worship” on Google (top line) in the last six years has approximately halved. Online news about “worship” (bottom line) has grown a significantly in the same period:

searches for worship

searches for worship

Use this free online tool to compare other search terms – put a comma between terms you seek to compare. Any ideas why such changes in the search for “liturgy” and “worship”?

Visitor numbers to this site have been increasing or steady. I think that is also due to the site expanding onto twitter and facebook:

pageviews & visitors to Liturgy site 2006-2009

pageviews & visitors to Liturgy site 2006-2009

Your thoughts?

Liturgy site ranks 46 in top church blogs

Published on September 8, 2009 in lectionary. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .


Kent Shaffer on his Church Relevance site has “compiled a list of the world’s top church blogs.” Kent states, “Some focus exclusively on ministry, while others are more like theology blogs. Regardless of how you label them, these are the world’s most popular church blogs written by many of today’s most influential church leaders, theologians, and Christ followers.” Kent takes into account Alexa Rank, number of recent visitors, page rank, subscribers, and information from Technorati, and places this site at number 46 of the Top 100 Church Blogs.

This site is now part of a cluster of liturgy online resources:

The Website The original web 1.0 format
620 on the email list
Up to 3,500 visitors each day

The Blog
380 subscribers to the RSS feed
Up to about 7,000 visitors for a topical blog post

The Online chapel

Twitter @liturgy
Over 25,000 followers
Ranking in the top 7 in New Zealand for number of followers

Facebook
Over 1,500 fans
Ranked 5 stars out of a possible 5 by facebook

Thank you to YOU – the reader. Your presence, and the usefulness of material here for you, makes the effort worthwhile.
If you link from your ministry unit website, or personal site or blog, please let me know so I link back.
Thanks also to Kent Shaffer for his recognition and encouragement.

For the liturgist who has everything

Published on September 1, 2009 in liturgy. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .
bedroom reredos & East window

bedroom reredos & East window

Nave

Nave

A friend of mine sent me information that a house-that-was-a-church is for sale in Hobart, Tasmania. It is only $Aus1,450,000! It seems to me the ideal retirement home for a liturgist! I’ve even worked out a way to finance it. Simple. If each of my appreciative followers on twitter and facebook donates only $Aus60 each (surely you can spare that!) I get the liturgist’s dream home completely paid off :-) [Of course you'd realised from the start the twitter & facebook pages were just money-making scams LOL!]

Built in 1852, it was formerly known as St John the Baptist Church. Now called “Pendragon Hall” it “effortlessly combines modern luxury with old world charm.”

sitting room - side chapel

sitting room - side chapel

“Inside, the former church built in 1852 has been adapted for private living, though still retaining charming ecclesiastical detail. Today, standing in the nave of the former St John the Baptist with its soaring ceiling and colonnade of interior arches you have a feeling of space, light and air. It’s not at all overpowering, despite the spaciousness and traces of ecclesiastical grandeur.

bed detail

bed detail

The master bed, at one end of the nave, is lit by a four-panel stained glass of historic importance, under which is the Reredos, which was gifted by Richard Patterson to the congregation in 1873 its inspiration was a drawing of the Mosaic picture of the Last Supper that formed part of the Reredos in Westminster Abbey. It has been the scene of elegant dinners, of relaxing days while the warm spring sunshine streams in confetti-like colours through the stained glass windows, and as a peaceful spot for visitors (usually a couple) to come back to, after exploring what southern Tasmania has to offer, in one of its latter-day guises as accommodation for tourists.”

All who contribute to the purchasing fund will, of course, be welcome any time they are visiting Hobart for a coffee or glass of wine. And should I not be home at Pendragon Hall/St John the Baptist Church, expect to find me on holiday in one of the many monasteries now “converted” into luxury hotels.

Parador de Santo Estevo - Spain

Parador de Santo Estevo - Spain

Hotel Monasterio - Cusco Peru

Hotel Monasterio - Cusco Peru

computer issues?

Published on August 28, 2009 in liturgy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

This site regularly connects spirituality and technology. For those struggling with their computer technology, here is a helpful flow-diagram, courtesy of xkcdtech_support_cheat_sheet

good worship is both/and

Published on August 22, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Yesterday the founder of Facebook’s Praying People Page posted Rev. Mark Brown indicated that he was interested that 71% of the over 5,500 members are female. This is made even more interesting because this almost 3 to 1 imbalance is not the case on my Facebook Liturgy Page where the ratio is 54% male, 46% female. I have asked Mark for the further breakdown of his statistics and await his reply. In the Liturgy Page the genders are essentially evenly balanced except in the 35 to 44 year age-band where 13% are males in this age-band and 7% are female.

I also await Mark’s reflection on what he finds interesting and what he draws from this interest. I was fascinated by the analysis in the over fifty comments on Mark’s page. It is typified by the comment “Guys just hide their emotions, and most think it’s a sign of weakness to pray.” Not only was there an identification of emotions with females (this was questioned), but there appears an identification of praying with emotions (which was not questioned!)

What the comments highlight for me is that there are Christian communities whose worship identifies prayer and emotions and that this is more attractive to women – tending to a 3:1 ratio. And that Facebook’s Praying People Page mirrors such an approach.

Liturgy, on the other hand, good liturgy, should not encourage such dichotomies. Good liturgy is not about either-or, it is always both-and. Everyone should be able to find their place in good liturgy which should seamlessly bring together rational and emotional, fixed and spontaneous, young and old, male and female. There should be space in the liturgy for those who arrive rejoicing as well as those who arrive distressed. Both-and. I am encouraged that the statistics for the Facebook Liturgy Page supports this positive vision.

My reflections are reinforced by discussion following my post on tweeting prayers to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. There, again, I notice some comments from people holding a dichotomy in their understanding between saying prayers written by others (including Psalms and the Lord’s Prayer) and praying prayers spontaneously from where a person is at that moment. The liturgical tradition does not divide it into this either-or, but supports both-and. Matthew 6:9 presents the Lord’s Prayer as a model for prayer, while Luke 11:2 enjoins us to pray the Lord’s Prayer as given. Both are valid. Both are important. Praying the prayer as Jesus gives it to us and using it as a model for personal and community prayer.

I suspect that even those in the either-or camp happily sing songs that others have written – probably even including pieces of psalms and other biblical material (and occasionally some material that I might find personally questionable and would much rather be singing something from scripture). A lot will sing anything projected up on the screen. What the either-or camp may not be aware of (and others also) is that until relatively recently we did not sing at the liturgy – the liturgy was sung. Speaking rather than singing/chanting words at the liturgy would have surprised Christians most of our history. So those who are happy to sing anything placed before them, but balk at the idea of praying any fixed prayers from the liturgical tradition would have happily participated in a service where most was sung :-)

Does my vision for inclusive worship – in which young and old, men and women, happy and sad, all participate equally, nourishing mind and heart – does this resonate with your own hopes? Does anything from what I have written above echo in your own experience?

Tweet prayers to Western Wall

Published on August 20, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , .

In the Old City of Jerusalem for centuries people of the Jewish faith have been writing prayers on pieces of paper and placing them between the massive stones of the Western Wall (Hebrew: הכותל המערבי‎, translit.: HaKotel HaMa’aravi – hence often referred to simply as the Kotel = wall. Arabic: حائط البراق‎, translit.: Ḥā’iṭ Al-Burāq)

It is believed by many that the Kotel, from the Second Temple, serves as a direct channel to the Almighty. Those who couldn’t make the journey could fax or e-mail their prayers to be placed there. Now you can also tweet your prayers.

Alon Nil, an economics student from Tel Aviv, started a Twitter feed, @TheKotel. The 140-character prayers are transcribed, cut into individual strips of paper and delivered by Alon himself free of charge. Non-Jewish Twitter users are more than welcome to use this service as well.

This internet interest in spirituality no longer surprises me as my own tweeting of liturgical texts, sayings, and other tweets @liturgy has rapidly risen to over 20,000 followers making it the sixth most followed twitter profile resident in New Zealand. Similarly, my online chapel receives many visits and includes the possibility of lighting a virtual candle. A new facebook liturgy page is similarly growing with enthusiastic followers.

Pope Visits Western Wall in Jerusalem

President of USA Visits Western Wall in Jerusalem

Social media church

Published on August 17, 2009 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

If social media is here to stay – how is the church responding? How is your parish or Christian community participating? The seven last words of a Christian community are, “we never did it like that before.”

There are now a number of different ways that people can be present in web 2.0. It appears that the Internet may be separating into different online communities which have different preferences for they way they share material online. Hence I have added some other ways of accessing liturgy online.

Website

www.liturgy.co.nz
The original web 1.0 format
620 on the email list
Up to 3,500 visitors each day

(If you link from your site or blog, please let me know so I link back.)

Blog

www.liturgy.co.nz/blog
340 subscribers to the RSS feed
Up to about 7,000 visitors for a topical blog post

Online chapel

tinyurl.com/chapelonline

Twitter

@liturgy
http://twitter.com/liturgy
Over 19,000 followers
Ranking number 6 in New Zealand for number of followers

Facebook

www.facebook.com/liturgy
1363 fans

Recently there was a Christianity in the digital space conference in the UK. There was live streaming video from it which I embedded in this site so that regulars here could follow it. At the conference they were projecting a hashtag stream from twitter #digisymp. When I could not hear a question being asked, I could tweet from the other side of the planet and someone there would repeat the question or pass them a microphone because my tweet was instantly up on their screen. This isn’t the future. It is now. What are we doing with it? How is it changing church, liturgy, spirituality?

Twitter spirituality

Published on August 13, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , .

God twittering

God twittering

I have been staggered by the interest in liturgy and spirituality on twitter. Over 18,000 people follow @liturgy making my twitter profile the sixth most followed Kiwi on twitter! For those unaware, twitter is a micro-blogging platform limiting posts to 140 characters or less. The recent purchase of FriendFeed by Facebook, and possible development of “Facebook lite,” is feeding speculation that twitter is in for some heavy competition. Certainly, as a human-driven “search engine” (rather than a bot & formula driven one) twitter currently has no competition.

Twitter is ideal for tweeting a part of the liturgy, a biblical quote, or a positive wise saying, as well as disseminating helpful links. Some have suggested that twitter encourages instant gratification and short attention spans – the very things that militate against spirituality. Frederic A. Brussat (we follow each other on twitter), however, has 25 Reasons Why Twitter Is Spiritual:

1.) Twitter challenges us to pay attention to what we are doing, to stay awake and totally alert.

2.) Twitter prompts us to focus on the present moment and in doing so we realize all we need is right here, right now.

3.) Twitter provides opportunities to connect with others around the world so we can sense how self and world are linked in ever-expanding circles.

4.) Twitter inspires us to practice hospitality in a time when too often strangers are feared and the “other” is shunned.

5.) Twitter enables us to share our deepest dreams and to encourage others not to lose hope.

6.) Twitter prods us to find the divine energy of joy in our daily lives and to share it with others.

7.) Twitter invites us to be receptive and to hold an open house in our hearts for new people, ideas, and organizations.

8.) Twitter draws out our playfulness and celebrates, in a variety of ways, the holiness of savoring pleasure and the lightness of being.

9.) Twitter promotes the art of listening in which we lean toward others in love, realizing that everyone wants to be heard.

10.) Twitter allows us to probe on a daily basis the significance of what we are feeling and thinking: it makes meaning makers of us all.

11.) Twitter encourages us to see spiritual teachers all around us, however unlikely or unlike us they may be.

12.) Twitter facilitates our exploration of the wider world of other cultures and wisdom traditions.

13.) Twitter reminds us to share the stories of our lives with other companions on the journey.

14.) Twitter illustrates how often when we are looking for one thing we come upon another in a moment of grace.

15.) Twitter proves that although we think we are living in a universe, it’s really a pluriverse of voices.

16.) Twitter shows us why we need to cherish all parts of creation from ants to wolves to the Grand Canyon.

17.) Twitter encourages us to spell out all our days with a grammar of gratitude.

18.) Twitter elicits our wonder as we see the world moving toward us with a deluge of epiphanies.

19.) Twitter taps into the enthusiasm that lights up our lives and spreads it around.

20.) Twitter helps us banish boredom when we realize that there is always something new to be seen, felt, or made known.

21.) Twitter gives us opportunities to bless others through our affirmations of who they are and what they do.

22.) Twitter challenges us to be mindful of every word we write and to honor others as best we can.

23.) Twitter provides another space where we can be deeply moved by reverence or a radical respect for all life.

24.) Twitter, like koans, mantras, and flash prayers, teaches us that brevity can be a path of rich communication.

25.) Twitter helps us to relearn the arts of generosity wherein we give to others that which means the most to us.