The March of Life members ... sent a message to my father, asking to meet with him. They met in Caesarea for the first time a year and a half ago, on a Friday afternoon. That’s when the group members told him that they wanted to direct a play documenting his life story.
My father told them of his memories of the Holocaust and all about his adventures at sea onboard the Exodus. By his side were my mother, Jacqueline, and my eldest son Yuval. I’ll never forget the text message I got from Yuval, saying: “Mom, you don’t get what’s going on here. This isn’t just another lecture that he’s giving—they’re all descendants of Nazis. They’re descendants of war criminals who murdered Jews in cold blood.”
I have to admit, I fidgeted in my chair when I got this message.
“So what is grandpa doing there?” I replied.
“It’s not what you think mom,” he reassured me. “These young Germans are trying to atone for their grandparents’ sins. They’re good Germans.”
I started sobbing as he described the scene: “They came here with a guitar and they’re playing Hava Nagila, grandpa even said kiddush and grandma lit candles with them. There’s another kind of German, who believe in Israel and support Judaism, and they want to prove that they’re our friends.”
Source: Ynet News - "How the offspring of Nazis celebrated my father the Holocaust survivor",
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5434172,00.html
Much-Afraid
Much-Afraid looked at the flower's tiny glowing petals and wanted to be like it was. She knelt beneath the imprisoned flower and whispered, "Here I am. My name will be Bearing-with-Love too. No matter how I am hurt or mistreated, I will choose to forgive."
Source: Hannah Hurnard - "Hind's Feet on High Places", arranged and illustrated for children, pp. 71-72
A Non-Creedal Church ... Reads the Creeds
The Apostles’ Creed is one of the most significant compilations of Christian beliefs in the history of the church. However, Southern Baptists have avoided it throughout our lifetime, citing the Bible as their sole creed.
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We picked [reading] the Apostles’ Creed because it is concise, clear, and well known. When we detected that some members began to regard the creed with a sanctity that only belonged to scripture or as a point of ecclesiological pride, we occasionally replaced it with the Ligonier's Statement on Christology. We did this to demonstrate the vitality of new and serious corporate statements that reflected historical orthodoxy. We also did this to mitigate against ecclesiological and denominational pride (it’s a Presbyterian document being recited by Baptists!). Either statement serves the same purpose and emphasize the important things we believe both in the statements themselves and in the act of saying them.
Source: D. Jeffrey Mooney and Adrian Martinez - "How One Church Introduced Reading the Creeds", Center for Baptist Renewal blog post, 1 March 2019
http://www.centerforbaptistrenewal.com/blog/2019/3/1/how-one-church-introduced-reading-the-creeds
The 1910 Talk
The divisions of Christendom do not appeal to the Christians in these lands. Christians in India, for instance, did not have a share in creating them. They entered into this ready-made system, and it has not really taken hold of them …
We must have one Church. We want a Church of India, a Church which can be our spiritual home, a Church where the Indian religious genius can find natural expression, a living branch of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, a Church which, being visible symbol in that divided land, will draw all [persons] to our blessed Lord ...
Unity may be a theoretically desirable ideal in Europe and America, but it is vital to the life of the Church in the mission field. The divisions of Christendom may be a source of weakness in Christian countries, but in non-Christian lands they are a sin and a scandal.
Source: V.S. Azariah - Talk given in 1910 at the World Missionary Council in Edinburgh, as found in the Mission as Common Witness section of Classic Texts in Mission and World Christianity, edited and with introductions by Norman F. Thomas
Jason Mandryk
There is power in united prayer. Christians are praying for world evangelization in greater numbers and unity than ever before. Already on the annual Global Day of Prayer, hundreds of miillions unite in prayer throughout the world. The motto of Operation World is, "When man works, man works, but when man prays, God works."
We can strategize, harmonize, dialogue and worship - we can equip ourselves with the best financial resources and the most astute missiology available - but without prayer, we will not see spiritual strongholds broken down, nor the unevangelized peoples experiencing the gospel. The state of the gospel changes by prayer.
Source: Jason Mandryk - "The State of the Gospel" in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (4th Edition), Chapter 55, p. 368
Sr. Jean Marie Holup, SSCM
Sisters have served on ecumenical commissions and local ministerial councils, and hold memberships in groups dedicated to pastoral care and Christian ethics. We host annual prayer services for peace and unity, including “Prayer Outside the Walls” where we invite all to join us. “Prayer Outside the Walls” events are conducted regularly and can be joined virtually with us via Facebook. Beyond literally being prayed outdoors, these prayers are prayed outside the invisible walls of any kind of prejudices.
The Basilica of Saints Cyril and Methodius at Villa Sacred Heart has been the site of numerous ecumenical gatherings and is the center of life at St. Cyril Spiritual Center which is located at the Motherhouse of the Sisters in Danville, PA. Saint Cyril Spiritual Center is a sponsored ministry of the Congregation where we provide a place to refresh mind, body, and spirit. We warmly welcome people of various traditions and ages and host retreat groups including the Society of the Holy Trinity which is a group of Lutheran Pastors who come to St. Cyril’s Spiritual Center for an annual retreat.
Source: Sr. Jean Marie Holup, SSCM - "The Ecumenical Commitment of a Catholic Women’s Religious Community", Paulist.org
http://www.paulist.org/the-conversation/the-ecumenical-commitment-of-a-catholic-womens-religious-order/
Phillip Owens
Only Jesus can do something like this! A Catholic ... who was once the drummer for a Christian punk rock band ... leading worship at a Protestant non-denominational church ... with a team composed of Catholics and Protestants, young and old ... singing a song written by his Protestant friend and co-leader ... that contains the lyrics "I believe in the holy catholic church" ... and all on the anniversary weekend of the Reformation (and of Wittenberg 2017). What a glorious moment of living out John 17!!
Source: Thomas Cogdell - Posted on FB 2 Nov 2020
https://youtu.be/6ELHtJrCsQk?t=1385
Repentance from the Church of England
Christians are to blame for centuries of antisemitism which led to the Holocaust and prejudice in modern politics, the Church of England has said, offering its “repentance”.
In an unprecedented 100-page report, the church confesses that “Christians have been guilty of promoting and fostering negative stereotypes of Jewish people that have contributed to grave suffering and injustice”, dating to when early Christians blamed Jews for the death of Jesus.
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The report, entitled God’s Unfailing Word: Theological and Practical Perspectives on Christian-Jewish Relations, has been backed by the Most Rev Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who writes in a foreword: “Too often in history the church has been responsible for and colluded in antisemitism and the fact that antisemitic language and attacks are on the rise across the UK and Europe means we cannot be complacent.”
Source: Kaya Burgess - "Church of England offers mea culpa on antisemitism", November 21 2019, 12:01am, The Times
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/church-of-england-offers-mea-culpa-on-antisemitism-h22wtlrcl
Completed Evangelical? Or Not An Evangelical?
The administration [of his employer Gordon College] thought [Thomas Howard] couldn’t sign the school’s statement of faith. He thought he could, because he saw his movement into the Church as following to its end the trajectory Evangelicalism had set. He saw himself as a completed Evangelical, while the college saw him as not an Evangelical at all. He eventually came to see that the college had been right, though he never lost his near-reverence for the tradition that formed him and its many great Christians.
Source: David Mills - "RIP Thomas Howard: 1935-2020", Catholic Herald, 15 October 2020
https://catholicherald.co.uk/ch/rip-thomas-howard-1935-2020/
Another NDE
Imagine when your earthly life ends and you relive your whole life - every moment. Imagine the day God shows you how your faithful, loving acts of service produced a ripple effect in God's economy. Dr. Mary Neal felt Jesus' embrace as she relived her whole life while trapped underwater in her kayak.
"I was shown events in my life, not in isolation but in the context of their unseen ripple effects. It is easy for all to see the impact our words or actions have on our immediate surroundings, but to see the impact of events or words dozens of times removed was profoundly powerful. Through this experience, I was able to clearly see that every action, every decision, and every human interaction impacts the bigger world in far more significant ways than we could ever be capable of appreciating."
Source: John Burke - "Imagine Heaven", Ch. 17, p. 243
Ecumenical Church Councils
Although the early church convened local and regional church councils in an attempt to debate and formulate its theological positions, these gatherings carried no authority over the whole Christian world. However, beginning in 325, Roman emperors gathered early church leaders in seven ecumenical councils, held over 462 years, between 325 and 787.
Each of these Ecumenical Church Councils took place in the Greek-speaking East and was primarily focused on the theological issues related to the triune nature of God (the Trinity) and Jesus Christ (Christology). Most of the early church fathers lived in the East and so most early theological writings were in Greek. Even in Rome, Christians worshiped in Greek until around 380. The Roman Catholic Pope (bishop) did not attend any of the councils.
Source: Dr. Andrew Jackson - "The Ecumenical Church Councils of the Early Church (325-787)"
https://www.drandrewjackson.com/the-ecumenical-church-of-councils-of-the-early-church-325-787/
Making Amends For WWII ... On A Honeymoon
Alex Dietze, 39, grew up in a Christian home in Germany where no one mentioned the Second World War, let alone the Holocaust. Alex mainly knew of the war from history classes at school, books and films. But on his 28th birthday something changed.
“My grandfather came to me and wanted to give me as a gift the Nazi war medal he earned for his contribution to the war effort,” Dietze told Ynet. “I was in shock. Previously for me, the Holocaust was a matter of general history and not something personal. I could not believe that my grandfather was among those who took part in the greatest tragedy of the 20th century. My world turned upside down.”
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“I became interested in the Holocaust and subsequently the State of Israel, and to my astonishment I discovered that hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors live there,” he continued. “My wife Cecilia and I became curious to meet these people. As Germans, we understood that we need to make amends and go to Israel. We had our honeymoon there and we fell in love with the country.”
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Sofia, 78, is one of the survivors with whom Alex and Cecilia volunteer. She was born in Ukraine and as a baby and a little girl during the Holocaust, she survived by being smuggled from place to place. She immigrated to Israel from Latvia in 1991, and says the German volunteers make her very happy. "They give me health and beauty, when I'm told they're coming, I feel 25 years younger. It's like it's cold and suddenly it's warm, it's so good. The older the person is, the more vulnerable they are and can use a good word. Their good warms us; they are surely messengers of God. Their children see the good that they do and perhaps they will carry on this good, not towards Holocaust survivors but to other people who will need it."
Source: Ynet News - "Nazis' descendants delight in volunteering with Holocaust survivors"
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5453594,00.html
"ready to forego all preferences of her own"
A primary source for the Quadrilateral was The Church-Idea, An Essay Towards Unity (1870) by William Reed Huntington (1838-1909), an Episcopal priest. He indicated the Anglican basis for an ecumenical "Church of the Reconciliation" in America should be acceptance of l) the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God; 2) the Nicene Creed as the rule of faith; 3) the two sacraments ordained by Christ himself (baptism and the eucharist); and 4) the episcopate as the keystone of governmental unity in the church. This "foursquare" approach became known as the "Quadrilateral." Huntington was the moving force behind its approval by the House of Bishops in Chicago.
The Chicago version of the Quadrilateral provides an ecumenical statement of purpose and introduction which states that the Episcopal Church is "ready in the spirit of love and humility to forego all preferences of her own" concerning things of human ordering or choice regarding modes of worship, discipline, and traditional customs. However, the statement of purpose warns that Christian unity "can be restored only by the return of all Christian communions to the principles of unity exemplified by the undivided Catholic Church during the first days of its existence."
Source: Episcopalchurch.org - "Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral", glossary entry for episcopalchurch.org
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/chicago-lambeth-quadrilateral
Near-Death Experience (NDE)
Rene hydroplaned on the streets of Sydney, Australia, hit a piling, and "died":
"I arrived in an explosion of glorious light into a room with insubstantial walls, standing before a man … He stood beside me and directed me to look to my left, where I was replaying my life's less complimentary moments; I relived those moments and felt not only what I had done but the hurt I had caused. Some of things I would have never imagined could have caused pain. I was surprised that some things I may have worried about, like shoplifting a chocolate as a child, were not there whilst casual remarks which caused hurt unknown to me at the time were counted."
Source: John Burke - "Imagine Heaven", Ch. 17, p. 245-246
Stone to Flesh School of Prayer
When we learn how to cultivate the Presence in our hearts which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we can start communal worship practices of Liturgy the of the Hours (Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Night Prayer), Adoration with silence, singing Lectio Divina (also known as Worship with the Word in a harp and bowl model of prayer), Intercession, contemporary praise and worship with its charismatic/contemplative expressions.
Source: Stone to Flesh Community - School of Prayer page on the Stone to Flesh / MajorChange website
https://stonetoflesh.org/school-of-prayer
George Miley
Both during my years in India and those with the ships Logos and Doulos, I found myself in a different church most Sundays, often as the speaker. As a team, we felt a strong sense of unity with and submission to the churches we visited. There were times with the ships when we had a clear idea of the kind of program we wanted to arrange in a particular port city, but local church leaders asked us to adjust it. We always honored their requests. As long as we were in that city, we were part of the body of Christ there. We would never intentionally do our own thing.
While in a port city, we ministered with our brothers and sisters from the churches there. Local believers translated for us in the conferences and evangelistic events. They greeted the visitors to the ship. They served with us in the kitchen, engine room, and other non-public areas. They were part of our prayer meetings and group devotional times. We experienced God together, moving in and through us.
Sometimes hundreds of them came to the quayside just before the ship's departure to say goodbye. It was not unusual for the tugs to be slowly pulling the ship away from the quay while people on the shore and on the ship waved to each other and wept softly. We had been joined together in the work of the kingdom for only two to three weeks, and yet an incredibly powerful bond had been established between us. Doing ministry together tends to do that. We knew indeed that we were one family, one body.
Source: George Miley - "Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations", Ch. 13 "Apostolic Organizational Structures", pp. 143-144
The Armenian Church & the Council of Nicaea
It was the great religious “confab” of the 4th century: a gathering of Christian bishops from throughout the world, convened by no less an authority than the Roman Emperor Constantine I. In A.D. 325, a town in the Black-Sea province of Bithynia played host to 318 scholars of the church who met to deliberate on the burning theological questions of the day. We remember it today as the Council of Nicaea: the first attempt to forge a truly “ecumenical” Christianity—that is, a Christianity that encompassed all the world’s human habitations—by coming to a consensus on church doctrine.
The most significant result of the council was the Nicene Creed: the first uniform expression of Christian doctrine. The Creed would be elaborated upon in subsequent councils, but its essential form, conceived during that historic gathering in Nicaea, remains the fundamental statement of orthodox faith, embraced by churches throughout the world—and repeated during every Armenian badarak as the Havadamk (“We believe”).
The Armenian Church participated in the council, with St. Aristakes, the younger son of St. Gregory the Illuminator, representing his then-ailing father. This Saturday, our church will remember the 318 Fathers of the Holy Council of Nicaea, and the project they began 1,695 years ago.
Source: Christopher H. Zakian - "Getting to 'We Believe'", blog post on The Armenian Church website, 4 Sept 2020
https://armenianchurch.us/2020/09/04/getting-to-we-believe-2
A View from Heaven
As my adult life unfolded before us, my self-centered nature predominated, and this greatly displeased my divine company. I did very little that was not in my own self-interest. Other people's needs were less important than my own desires. This is opposed to the will of God and is the opposite of love ...
Source: Howard Storm - As quoted by John Burke in "Imagine Heaven", Ch. 17, p. 241
Appalachia ➜ Belfast
He told me about his growing up in Tennessee’s rural Appalachia—in a community of (primarily) Catholic and Southern-Baptist. Although he has always been Presbyterian, the predominant duality in the environment gave him an opportunity to develop the question, “if you are so much alike, why are you so far apart?”
Fast-forward to college graduation, and despite having his heart set to travel to Nairobi to do ministry work, he ended up in Belfast—where political divides had given birth to blood feuds, and separations of heart that manifested with physical walls in the city—keeping the Catholic and Protestant communities partitioned and separate.
He shared with me about his experience here—things thrilling, sad, fruitful, and frightening. He also shared about his current ministry—some of the challenges, as well as his hopes and desires for growth. The door was open for me to share my dream and desire to engage with the diversity of humanity, and to help them engage each other under the uniting reality of God’s Spirit.
Source: Israel Chaffin - FB post about a new friend he met in Memphis, 20 Dec 2020
Work Towards Unity In 1888
[The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral is the ]statement of the four Anglican essentials for a reunited Christian Church. It concerns the scriptures, creeds, sacraments, and the historic episcopate. It was approved by the House of Bishops at the 1886 General Convention in Chicago, and subsequently approved with modifications by the bishops of the Anglican Communion at the Lambeth Conference of 1888.
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The four points of the Quadrilateral were listed by the Chicago statement as "inherent parts" of the sacred deposit of Christian faith and order "committed by Christ and his Apostles to the Church unto the end of the world, and therefore incapable of compromise or surrender. . . ." The Chicago statement lists the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. With respect to baptism and the eucharist, the Chicago statement calls for administration of these sacraments "with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him." The Chicago version expressed the fourth part of the Quadrilateral in terms of "The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of His Church." Although the Quadrilateral was not enacted by the House of Deputies at the 1886 General Convention, it was incorporated in a general plan referred for study and action by the newly created Joint Commission on Christian Reunion.
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At the 1895 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, the Commission on Christian Unity was continued with the goal of seeking Christian unity on the basis of the "principles enunciated throughout the Declaration of the house of Bishops made at Chicago in 1886, and as reaffirmed by the Lambeth Conference of 1888." Thus for the first time the entire General Convention of the Episcopal Church affirmed the Quadrilateral in its Lambeth form. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral has continued to serve as the primary Anglican working document and reference point for ecumenical Christian reunion. The Chicago and Lambeth versions of the Quadrilateral are included in the historical documents of the 1979 BCP (pp. 876-878).
Source: Episcopalchurch.org - "Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral", glossary entry for episcopalchurch.org
https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/chicago-lambeth-quadrilateral