Making New Beginnings

This past weekend, I was invited by one of my former youth group students from St. Peter’s (and god-sister to my kids) to be a Spiritual Director for New Beginnings. New Beginnings is a weekend retreat for 7th through 9th graders. Many dioceses have New Beginnings, including our own Diocese of Atlanta, but this one took place in my home diocese, the Diocese of Georgia at their camp and conference center Honey Creek. As many of you know, Honey Creek was almost as much of my childhood home as Augusta was. So I was honored when Kimberly asked me to serve, along with her father, my former rector at St. Peter’s, Sam Buice.

New Beginnings is a weekend that touches middle-schoolers where they are. That age group is in such flux, not quite children and not yet close to adulthood. They are learning about peer pressure, friendships, sexuality, family issues, and within all of those, how to navigate their own faith. New Beginnings does a really good job of addressing many of these issues.

The weekend is mostly led by teenagers. There are plenty of adults present to chaperone and support, but the youth are the ones who keep us on schedule, lead games, play music, give talks, facilitate small groups, and lead most worship services. It’s always quite amazing to see this take place. These young people do a great job of using their own God-given gifts to spread God’s love to all the new participants.

The weekend always starts off a little awkward. Teenagers are still used to their school identities, where you clump with your friends or similar-looking people. But very quickly, they are engaged in games, singing, and small groups that allow these walls to crumble. By the middle of the second day, these young people are arm-in-arm as they sing, laugh, play, and learn.

For as many weekends like these that I’ve done, I am still in awe of that transformation. It’s a sign of God’s kingdom present in our world. It’s a beacon of light and hope in our sometimes dark world. I’m also amazed by the friendships that are forged here, which last forever. There were adults on the weekend with whom I went through these programs as a teenager, and some who were youth when I was first ordained, who have now grown into maturity and are giving back by supporting the programs and leading them behind-the-scenes.

The climax of New Beginnings is a “sin-burning service.” We explain that sin is separation from God and that God always forgives them and wants them back. We invite them to write these sins on slips of paper and then invite them to bring them to the altar, where there is a bowl of flames waiting to consume their paper and their sins. It’s a tangible reality of God’s consuming love for us. As you can imagine, it’s an intensely emotional experience for young people who have never heard this message before. Afterwards, we invited them to come for healing prayers. After receiving forgiveness, they are healed in mind, body, and spirit and thus, a new beginning is made.

While things change at Honey Creek as I get older, and while God’s beloved children are making fresh starts and new changes, I am struck by how simple, important, and constant the message of God’s forgiveness is. That message that was communicated to me as a teenager is still being communicated on the holy ground of Honey Creek. The same could be said for Camp Mikell, or any other place where these types of programs happen.

The church is indeed alive and well, my friends. As Kimberly told the group in her talk entitled The Church and Me, we are not called to go to church, we are called to be the church.

As I listened, 15 years since I first went to a New Beginnings, a new beginning was forged in my heart again. Thanks be to God!

The Home-Owning Priest

Yes, it’s official, we are finally homeowners again! After a long waiting period to sell our house in Savannah, we finally closed on our house last Friday, thanks to the work of our realtor Bob Patterson.

As you have seen and probably heard, the house we bought is an historic house, built in 1915. It has a rich history in Hamilton, with many people knowing the Shafer family who lived there for many years. Some folks have even given us history that pre-dates the Shafer’s, which we hope to learn more about. Despite it’s age, the house is in great shape and needs a bit of work, which we are rushing to get done in the next few weeks before we move in. We have already had one paint party, and are having another this Saturday from 9:00 to 3:00. Read more

Happy Birthday Website!

Our website has just had it’s very first birthday!

Today, I updated many of the Pages to reflect what’s going on currently. The website has two functioning parts, the Posts and the Pages. The Posts are the articles (like this one) that we “post” to give you up-to-date info on what’s coming up. Posts are what you see when you receive an e-mail from the website. Pages are the more “static” pages, that you see in the toolbar above. These are mostly pages that have information that is more constant. Every year, this information gets a bit of tweaking, unless something major needs to be updated.

If you haven’t strolled through the Pages in a while, you really should do so! Among the updates:

Leaders pages, especially the Vestry & Staff page
Worship page, with updated service times
Marriage, Funerals, and Other Forms of Worship, with update information on Confirmation
Parish Life Events, with more pictures of our events in the last year

If you are interested in learning more about how to contribute to our website, or learning more about websites in general, I will be teaching two different workshops. First, at the Diocesan Ministry Fair at the Cathedral on March 6, I will be co-leading a workshop called Blogs and Facebook & Twitter, Oh My! Here’s the description of the workshop: “Social media” are new tools for mainline churches, but part of the everyday lives of many of our parishioners and most of our neighbors (of all ages). Come learn how the new social media are impacting Christianity in and out of the church, and how we can be a positive force in those changes. Come learn more about Facebook, Tweeting, and other social networks and how they can work for you and your church in an effective way, most all of them at little or no cost.   The Rev. Jeff Jackson, rector of St. Nicholas in Hamilton, will use an example of how his parish is using social networking tools to build community and enhance evangelism.

Second, on March 13 at 1:00pm at the church, I will be teaching specifically how to be a contributor to our website. I will teach participants how the site works, how to post Posts and Pages, with pictures, text, and more! It would be helpful to have a laptop with wireless capabilities so you can interact with the website while I’m teaching. It’s not mandatory, though, but you’ll want to take notes.

We’ve made a lot of headway with our website in the last year. I hope you have found it an effective tool for communication. As always, your feedback is important. Help me by continuing to let me know what you’d like to see on the website in the future.

Who Knew Kneelers Were So Cool?

From Father Matthew Moretz from Christ Church in Rye, New York, and one of my long-time friends.

Kneelers-they’re not just for knees, you know!

Hollywood & Faith

I ran across this great article on one of my favorite comic book websites, Newsarama.com. In it, Michael Avila interviews Greg Garrett, who is an English professor at Baylor University, the author of Holy Superheroes! and a faithful Episcopalian. His book is really good, and if anyone is interested in Media & Religion, pick it up (or borrow my copy).

I’d love to see what you all think! You can read the original article here.

Hollywood Shows A Little Faith
by Michael Avila

After years of avoiding the Good Book like the plague, Hollywood has done an about-face on faith.

As people are faced every day with threats of terrorism, environmental decay and economic uncertainty, a number of recent films, such as “The Blind Side,” “The Book of Eli” and “Legion,” have embraced religion. “The Road” tackled morality and its place in the world. Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” questioned the meaning of eternal life. Even the box office smash “Avatar” raised questions about belief in higher powers and man’s ultimate purpose.

Why the sudden interest in getting in touch with our Higher Power?

Depends on who you ask. Some may say it’s tied to Mel Gibson’s 2004 smash hit “The Passion of the Christ.” But that doesn’t add up, given the lengthy time since that film’s release – and the fact subsequent movies like “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Nativity Story” flopped.

Regardless, there’s no question spirituality plays a prominent role in today’s pop culture, says Baylor University English Professor Greg Garrett.

“Whether they know it consciously or not, in times of trouble people look for two things from the culture they consume — entertainment and understanding,” according to Garrett, the author of the book “’Holy Superheroes!’ “Well-told stories also may help us to make some sort of meaning out of the chaos of our lives, and that exploration can happen whether or not we intend it.”

Perhaps no genre is as effective an outlet for stories with religious themes than science fiction. The battle of good vs. evil and the question of what’s right or wrong are two topics often at the heart of the best sci-fi, because the visual components of the genre allow for heightened translation and interpretation.

Filmmakers such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron have infused spirituality into classic movies such as “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Terminator.” On television, faith and its power to inspire and corrupt was the dominant story thread through the entire series run of the re-imagined “Battlestar Galactica.”

The rise of religious allegory is no coincidence, according to religious scholar George Aichele.

“We live in a time and culture where belief in traditional gods is increasingly difficult,” says Aichele, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Adrian College. “Extraterrestrial aliens represent an ‘other’ that once was the gods. [Science fiction] taps into the old religious urges with ‘answers’ that fit better into our world.”

“We all want to know who we are, why we’re here, where we’re going; in a good science fiction story, we see these issues worked out,” Garrett says. “What makes “Avatar” or “The Matrix” or “Battlestar Galactica” resonate are those dramatic depictions of answers to hard questions.

Often, the answer lies with the hero of the tale, the Christ-like savior who will lead his people to the Promised Land. He could be a Jedi Knight, a virtual computer hacker, a future freedom fighter, or a super-powered alien from a doomed planet. What he is doesn’t matter. It’s what he does that counts.

Classic science fiction filmmaking has often relied on the Messianic figure, going all the way back to Klaatu in 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Subtlety usually doesn’t come into play with these archetypal roles.

If the fact that Superman was considered a Godlike figure hadn’t sunk in yet, Bryan Singer made sure to get his point across in the last act of “Superman Returns.” It’s why Neo is referred to as ‘The One’ in “The Matrix.” It’s why we’re reminded all the time in the ‘Terminator’ films that John Connor is prophesized as the leader of the resistance (and why Cameron also gave him the same initials as – well, you know.).

More often than not, when Hollywood wants to turn the spotlight on the Bible, it likes to jump right to the end — The End of Days.

“Legion,” which opens Friday, stars Paul Bettany as the archangel Michael, who’s come to Earth to save humanity from an Armageddon ordered by God (it’s complicated). He teams up with a group of humans holed up at a remote diner to fight off the hordes of armed Angels who have come to send mankind to join the dinosaurs in extinction.

It will compete for audience share with “The Book of Eli,” which debuted to an impressive $32 million last weekend. Denzel Washington is the archetypal savior who roams the post-apocalyptic American wasteland, 30 years after a devastating war, carrying perhaps the last Bible on Earth.

“Our fondness for apocalyptic stories is often going to come with a savior figure, since we want the End of the World to be mediated in some way,” according to Garrett. “Apocalyptic literature is about hope, strangely enough, and the Messianic figure in these stories gives us hope that humankind may survive, or at least that our heroes may.”

The post-apocalypse movie category has had more than a half-dozen entries the past year. They include the popcorn spectacle “2012,” the bleak drama “The Road,” the Vampire thriller “Daybreakers” and even a comedy, “Zombieland.”

According to Christopher Link, Professor of English at SUNY New Paltz, Doomsday films serve the purpose of driving home the fragile nature of life, and the importance of not taking it for granted.

“Apocalyptic texts and narratives often have less to do with the future than with the recent past,” says Link, who holds a Doctorate in Religious Studies. “We learn a little about recent history, and about the hopes and fears it has tended to generate.”

In other words, life is short.

Considering all the terrible news happening in the real world, why do audiences continue to want to pay to be exposed to even worse events unfolding on a giant movie screen?

“The world is a very scary, confusing place these days,” says Aichele. “Apocalyptic [cinema] always does well under those conditions.”

It would seem misery truly does love company.

House…Found!

God must read our website. No sooner did I post about searching for a Jeep and a new house did God answer our prayers. Read more

Frozen Ponds

Hiking in the cold…

Last week, I fell off the hiking wagon and decided that studying at Huddle House was a better idea than hiking. This was due to freezing temperatures that I’m sure our northern brothers and sisters would laugh at. Harris County schools closed last Friday due to threats of frost and icy roads. Laugh all you want, but this is Georgia, and that’s just what we do down here.

Before I left, I layered up, as if I was about to embark on some Himalayan expedition. I think I had about four layers before I walked out the door. But I was thankful as the bitter wind stung my face. I was especially thankful for my dear wife who had gotten me new wool hiking socks for Christmas!

I decided to take it a little easy since I was practically trekking the planet Hoth. I did a short section of the Pine Mountain Trail between the Gardens Overlook parking area to Buzzards Roost parking area and back which was about 4 miles. When I left, it was 22 degrees. Read more

Searching for Houses and Jeeps…and Lampshades

I am really getting impatient. Since our house sold in October, I’ve been on the prowl for new habitation. We definitely have counted our blessings that we were lucky enough to see the Savannah house go. We’re grateful for the rental house we have (thanks to Lacy Razor), and we love our location and neighbors (The Hornes), but after a year of “temporary living,” we are so ready to find the house and feel completely at home. Read more

Hiking Priest’s Movie Review: Avatar

Last Sunday night, I took the Youth Group to see the new movie Avatar. James Cameron’s 3-D, sci-fi epic, Avatar is a special effects masterpiece, 15 years in the making. The computer-generated images are a visual delight, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before (and I’ve seen a lot of science fiction). While the special effects are multi-layered and intricate, so too, are the themes and messages inherent in the film.

Much of what I heard about Avatar was mixed. While friends and critics hailed the stunning visuals of the film, almost everyone was critical about the plot of the movie. “It’s Dances With Wolves with Smurfs,” was one comment. “How can James Cameron make so much money by stealing Disney’s Pocahontas?” One person even went so far as to mark up the plot of the Disney cartoon and replace it with names from Avatar. Spoiler warning! Read more

The Hiking Priest: The Shootin’ Priest

Between the ages of 5 and 11, my family and I lived in Clay County, Alabama. My father owned a funeral home half-way between Lineville and Ashland. These were some of our best days as a family (and some of our hardest). We all got to experience small-town living for the first time. While most of my family now prefers living in bigger cities like Augusta (with the exception of my oldest sister, who married a man from Clay County and still lives in rural Alabama), I like to think that it planted a seed in my heart for small towns, which I think is what brought me to Harris County in the first place. Read more

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