Diocese News
Bishop Taylor's Reflection
In New Orleans the parades are gearing up. We just finished the secular feast day of The Super Bowl and the florists are piling up roses for Valentine's Day next week. Thus, it feels kind of grinchy to mention that Lent is coming in two weeks-but it is.
One of the resolutions from our convention was for the bishop to suggest a book focused on the emergent church for Lenten study. I have been reading away since the New Year and have more than one suggestion. (For those of you who are taking the Lenten discipline of reading fiction, read Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding. It has nothing to do with the Church and certainly has questionable sexual ethics, but it's an amazing book and as a bonus is about baseball.)
The most user friendly resource I found is Phyllis Tickle's Embracing Emergence Christianity. It's a DVD with a study guide and contains six sessions designed for small group study. It contains much useful information and provocative questions. In addition, it can be adapted for multiple time frames. The first parish to call the Bishop Henry Centre can borrow my copy. The study gives a sweeping view of the changes in the religious landscape and is engaging and provocative.
Our Mission and Ministry speaker in May is Dwight Zscheile. He has a book coming out this spring but because it is delayed, he recommended Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One (Allelon Missional Series) by M. Scott Boren. In turn I would recommend The Missional Church in Perspective by Dwight Zscheile and Craig Van Gelder. It's not a quick read but is very informative.
An easier read is Reggie McNeal's Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church. This work offers a reorientation of how we see our mission as the Church and how the Church is related to the world and thus needs to be re-formed (which is what a reformation is).
On an entirely different note, Paula Huston has written Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit. This is really a workbook which guides the faithful into changing their behaviors to lead more holy lives. She focuses on simplifying the use of money, the care of the body, the mind, the schedule, relationships, and prayer. There is a chapter for every week and each day has a meditation and practice.
So enjoy the next two weeks of Epiphany. Eat King Cakes and join any parade you can find, but also prepare for the Holy Season of Lent so that our Church and her people might be transformed.
+ G. PORTER TAYLOR
Bishop, Diocese of Western N.C
