Bishop Ed to discuss Lambeth
Oklahoma Episcopalians will get a chance to hear about the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference at six regional briefings beginning Tuesday in Duncan.
The Rt. Rev. Edward Konieczny, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, will share information about the conference, which he attended in England along with other bishops in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Dates, times and locations of the briefings are as followed:
6:30 p.m. Tuesday at All Saints Episcopal Church in Duncan.
6:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Ardmore.
6:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City.
6 p.m. Sept. 8 at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Enid.
7 p.m. Sept. 12 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Tulsa.
6 p.m. Sept. 21 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grove.
PHOTO ABOVE RIGHT FROM EPISCOPALOKLAHOMA.ORG/The Rt. Rev. Edward Konieczny, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, poses for a picture with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at the 2008 Lambeth Conference in England.
Rabbi sees divine design
Weighing in on every aspect of the construction of the new Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning, Rabbi Ovadia Goldman saw many layers of an unfolding plan.
“One of the things I always learned in my Jewish mysticism classes is that there is nothing in the world that was created without a blueprint,” Goldman (shown at left with his wife, Nechoma) said this week.
“I learned that it’s virtually impossible to create something that is beautiful, comfortable and sensible without some forethought.”
So the rabbi said seeing the community center take shape — from the initial blueprints to the completed building — reminded him once again that this world has a divine Creator who designed it with loving hands.
“To me I see a whole different perspective. When I look at the world, this is something that had to have forethought. It could not have happened by chance.”
Goldman said these thoughts so overwhelmed him that he wanted to leave a few wires hanging from the ceiling in his office and wanted to be able to look up and see an exposed beam or two — just to remind him again of God’s divine design.
Alas, the rabbi said his idea was nixed by others involved with the community center project.
But he will never forget the nugget about God’s world that he gleaned as he worked on the project.
“You need to go back to the blueprint — the Torah — to see the root and source and purpose and vision of it — to understand its gifts and details.”
The new center — with all the wires and beams in proper place – will be unveiled to the community at 4 p.m. Sept. 7. at 3000 W Hefner Road in The Village.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Facing Facebook head-on
I met Chris Forbes a few years ago and he has always been a good source of information when it comes to some of the ways churches are using technology for their outreach efforts.
Over the years, I’ve learned that he shares a similar philosophy as Bobby Gruenewald, innovation pastor at LifeChurch.tv, Gruenewald says that instead of shying away from technology like the Internet, churches can “redeem” technology by using it to advance the kingdom of God.
Along those lines, Forbes created a free e-book called “Facebook for Pastors” earlier this year.
He said it is designed to help pastors use the social network to connect with their congregations and others in the community, particularly young people.
“Facebook is a great ministry opportunity,” Forbes said.
“A lot of people say they want closer relationships with their pastors and a lot of pastors say they’d like to connect to a younger crowd.”
Forbes said many churches now have nice Web sites. Facebook advances a church’s (or in this case, a pastor’s) Internet presence to another level, he said.
“People are expecting a level of interaction and young people are connected with each other almost constantly. They are on each other’s Facebook or they are texting each other,” he said.
Forbes said pastors who have used his e-book have reported that they have established closer ties with members of their congregations, especially younger people.
In addition to these positives, the Facebook for Pastors e-book also gives leaders a chance to make a donation to Hearts and Hands International, an Edmond-based charity close to Forbes’ heart. Although the e-book can be downloaded for free, Forbes presents information about the charity so that leaders can choose to donate to a worthy cause.
Check out the e-book and Forbes’ ministrymarketingcoach.com by clicking here: Facebook for Pastors.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
P.S. Two things: First, in an Aug. 12 posting, I asked readers to guess what is the single most significant roadblock for today’s savvy church communicators. One faithful reader e-mailed me with her answer, political correctness.
I think that guess was really close. According to one local expert, Terrell Sanders with Edmond-basedMinistryCom.org, the single most significant roadblock for today’s savvy church communicators is tradition or, in my own words the ”doing things the way we’ve always done them syndrome.”
Second: We’ll attend the MinistryCom conference coming up in September. Look for future stories, video and audio interviews.
Faith blossoms on Katrina’s anniversary
As yet another storm — this time Gustav – threatens New Orleans, the Louisiana city is commemorating the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina today.
An interfaith service is set there for tonight and representatives of New Orleans’ major faith communities, plus some from the smaller faith groups, will gather for prayer and music.
The interfaith tone of the service will be reflected in many ways, according to the Religion News Service.
The host site is a Jewish temple, Temple Sinai. The keynote speaker is Roman Catholic Archbishop Arnold Hughes. It will be open with Islam’s traditional call to worship, invoked by Rafeeq Nu’man, the imam of Masjidur-Rahim.
Deacon Ron Guidry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Worship told the RNS that while the third anniversary observance will incorporate a commemoration of what was lost during Katrina, the liturgy will also demonstrate that “we want to move toward renewal.”
The service sounds like it will be a time to focus on peace, even in the midst of negative circumstances that threaten to destroy it.
(Pictured above: AP PHOTO Reginald Lee cuts grass around white flags that represent people who died during Hurricane Katrina at Metairie Cemetary in New Orleans.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Faithful Five for the weekend — Aug. 29-31
Here’s my “faithful five” — five events going on in the faith community this weekend. If what you read below intrigues you, go check it our for yourself:
1. Saturday in the park. That’s the title of Oklahoma Baptist University’s back-to-school welcome and worship celebration set for Saturday at downtown Shawnee’s Woodland Park. Oklahoma’s own, contemporary Christian recording artist Jami Smith will join Shane & Shane on the event stage. The activities begin at 1 p.m. and admission is free. Hamburgers, hot dogs and sodas will be sold, beginning around 4 p.m.
2. Tenor trio. The Three Tenors, local musicians Alan Logan, Kelly Moore and Brandon Storie, will offer sacred music as part of Cathedral of Hope’s Hot Summer Nights music series at 6 p.m. Sunday at First Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13, where Cathedral of Hope meets. For more information, check out the church’s Web site at www.cohokc.com.
3. Happy Anniversary! Avery Chapel AME Church at 1425 N Kelham is celebrating its 119th anniversary with special services at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, followed by a church reunion concert at 4:30 p.m. and revival services at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 424-3331.
4. Happy Anniversary, Part II! Del City Church of the Nazarene will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Sunday, with services at 10:30 a.m. at 4701 SE 26 in Del City. A supper is planned after the service.
5. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Tulsa. The District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses continues this weekend with services today, Saturday and Sunday at the Tulsa Convention Center. Events are free and the public is welcome to attend.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Still no love for ‘Love Guru’
Some national Hindu leaders are urging Wal-Mart and other retailers not to carry “The Love Guru” DVD.
I wrote a column about a week before the movie’s June 20 big-screen premiere, specifically focusing on a boycott of the film led by Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism.
The movie features comedian Mike Myers as a guru named Pitka.
Zed and some other Hindu leaders believe the move ridicules Hinduism, its concepts and terminology.
In a news release sent out today, Zed said that Hindu leader Bhavna Shinde has contacted Wal-Mart and other retailers about the film, including Amazon.com, Netflix, Blockbuster, Best Buy, Circuit City and Barnes and Noble among others.
“This film has hurt the feelings of the Hindu community worldwide … we request you to understand the pain of worldwide Hindus and other spiritual people. We request you to refuse to handle/sell/rent the DVDs of ‘The Love Guru’,” Shinde wrote.
According to Zed’s release, he and some others in the Hindu community believe their boycott and attention drawn to it helped cause the movie’s relatively lukewarm box office receipts.
Guess as far as these leaders are concerned, there’s still no love lost for Mike and his movie.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Faith’s view of political conventions
The PBS news magazine show Religion & Ethics Newsweekly features special reports on this week’s Democratic Convention and will also focus on the upcoming Republican convention.
As part of the program’s ongoing “2008 Campaign” coverage, managing editor and correspondent Kim Lawton began her series of convention reports on Aug. 22 with a look at the impact of religion on both parties as they head into the November election.
This week, Lawton will be on location in Denver at the Democratic National Convention to examine the Democrat’s new faith-based outreach strategy and the role religion has played during the convention.
The series concludes the week of Sept. 5 with a report from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis where Lawton will explore the challenges facing the Republicans as they try to hold onto the support of social conservatives and reach out to faith-based moderates.
Log onto Religion and Ethics Newsweekly’s Web site here, R&E 2008 Campaign, or you can watch the show on your local public television station. The program can be seen in the Oklahoma City area at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on OETA-13.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Baptist pastor blogging again
The Rev. Wade Burleson’s self-imposed break from blogging is over.
Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, made the official announcement with Monday’s posting on his blog at wadeburleson.com.
He took a blogging sabbatical in mid-May, surprising me since it was just a month before the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Indianapolis.
Burleson (pictured above right) is well known among Southern Baptists for his blog, which earned him the ire of some leaders of the SBC’s International Mission Board. Burleson had been a trustee of the board, but he resigned after determining that he and his blog had become a distraction to the board, keeping them from focusing on the issues at hand concerning missionaries across the globe.
Judging from the comments following Burleson’s first postings since ending his break, the outspoken preacher’s posting have been missed by some.
What are his latest postings about?
Tuesday’s posting was on one of his favorite subjects: Baptist Identity, the new IMB doctrinal polices and the SBC.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Priest cancels beauty pageant … nun too soon
An Italian priest recently found himself in trouble with his superiors because of his beauty pageant for nuns.
The Rev. Antonio Rungi reportedly created the pageant by announcing it on his blog.
The unconventional — and short-lived — pageant has lit up the blogosphere over the past day or so as news has spread about Rungi’s idea.
According to MSNBC News Services, Rungi’s online pageant drew his superiors’ attention and they were not thrilled with his project.
“My superiors were not happy. The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either,” Rungi told Reuters by telephone from his convent in southern Italy on Tuesday, MSNBC reported.
The news agency reported that Rungi claimed he did not plan on nuns strolling the catwalk. Rungi said his vision for the pageant included nuns having a month to vote for themselves on his blog, listing their attributes such as social awareness, charity and spirituality.
He told the news agency that the nuns could choose whether or not they would be pictured with the traditional veil or with their head uncovered.
The priest said he has received some supportive correspondence and some not-so-supportive feedback.
Hollywood has had a field day (no pun intended) when portraying the vocation (see TV’s “The Flying Nun” above), but nuns, by and large, are well respected for their dedication to the Lord, His church and their service to the community. Therefore, I’m not surprised that some folks did not appreciate Rungi’s pageant.
Well, no one can ever say that Rungi lacks imagination.
Earlier this month he debuted a 98-foot-long blow-up church on the Adriatic coast.
The so-called “beach-convent” simply followed many Italians who head to the beach for the summer. According to news accounts, the beach church was staffed with priests ready to take confession.
Read MSNBC’s story about Rungi’s ill-fated beauty pageant for nuns by clicking here: “No nuns on catwalk as priest stops ‘pageant’.
What do you think about Rungi’s idea?
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Lighting a fire under churches
A faith-themed film set to premiere next month is lighting a fire under churches concerned about marriage.
The movie “Fireproof” is 30 days away from opening in theaters nationwide.
Already ministries across the nation, including several in Oklahoma, are talking about the film which tells the story of a unhappily married firefighter (portrayed by actor Kirk Cameron) and his quest to solve his marriage woes.
To view a trailer and learn more about the movie, click here: “Fireproof”
And look for more information about local related activities in future stories in The Oklahoman.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
