Friday, October 15, 2010

What's Burmese, Basic and Burned at the Stake?

It's Northern Plains Anglicans! Check out the fresh fly-over country insight on the DISCUSSION BOARD at our Facebook page.

Burma? Minnesota says "You betcha!": "As of late we have become a multi-cultural parish with the arrival of a number of Karen Refugees from Burma, who come to us already Anglican with their own Anglican traditions, and understandings."

Football metaphors from a South Dakota college town: "I think the basic plays of Christianity, like football, fall into Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams plays.

Offensive plays include running and passing, akin to the knowledge of scriptural and the theological (creeds).

Defensive plays include man to man coverage (interpersonal relations with individuals both within the community and outside the community) and zone coverage (being able to respond to specific cultural questions and needs.)

Special teams plays include the ability to know one's own tradition and its limitations. Sometimes you have to admit your tradition needs to punt, sometimes you need a little chicanery to get the first down."

Wisconsin ain't cheesy when it comes to describing the saints: "Aside from Cranmer’s marvelous work on the Book of Common Prayer, it’s the political and personal struggle that ended his life that inspires me. He had deep convictions about things of this world, namely the imperative that a Christian be subject to the monarch. Of course in hindsight, we know that this certitude was an ephemeral value. We probably hold a few of those ephemeral convictions in this time as well, so we should understand his difficulty in releasing that “article of faith” for more timeless values of faith. But when Cranmer recognized his own departure from his utter submission of all his being to his faith in God, he fearlessly submitted to accountability. He submitted to martyrdom in fire."

Come check us out, and share your thoughts.

No comments: