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History Part-time
communicator's lament - Virginia Barrett Barker
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Let the whole world see and know: Saturday in the Week of
Pentecost Honor and glory to the holy
and undivided Trinity, + + + What a privilege it is to preach among you. My thanks to the Board of Directors and the Conference Committee for the kind invitation. Thanks also to the Rev. Annwn H. Myers, Associate University Chaplain and to the Rev. Thomas R. Ward, Jr., University Chaplain, for their hospitality and assistance in today's service. Welcome to All Saints' Chapel, the spiritual center of the University of the South. + + + We don't have very satisfactory cable T.V. service here in Sewanee. The channel selection is limited, and often there are technical problems and the whole cable goes down. So, when Sarah and I moved into the home where we now live, we decided to get one of those satellite T.V. dishes. Now, because of federal communications regulations, we can't receive on satellite the local stations and local franchises of the national networks--but, because we are 90 miles away from Nashville, we can subscribe either to the east coast or west coast ABC, CBS, NBC. So we don't see the local news. Instead we get three versions of the New York City local news. We don't watch it often, but on occasion I find it fascinating, distanced as I am from it, and not affected by the local politics, the closing of bridges, or weather conditions, being reported. The other evening, on a rare occasion of dissipated television viewing, Sarah and I watched "Friends, Frasier, and ER" -two hours solid, of relationships, comedy on the edge of the tragic, tragedy touched with compassion and joy, crisis, commitment, pathos, failure, triumph, dedication--both drama and melodrama. Throughout the evening, a series of promotional spots appeared for the 11 p.m. news, which highlighted a single story, to be reported later that night---a sad, weary story of family conflict, the shooting of a middle aged woman by her mother, the woman's' decision to go off life support finally being honored by the hospital, which would likely mean she would die, and that subsequently murder charges that would be brought against her mother. In a city of millions and millions of people, the editors had chosen to lead and promo a story they thought would grasp the attention of viewers, and keep them watching. And so it was their lead, and the promo'ed mercilessly. What story would you promo? In your story budget, if you had responsibility for the 11 p.m. News, what would you select? You're familiar, I'm sure with the term in secular journalism for a small, for the front page that breaks the heaviness of the news--it's called a "bright"......generally a story that is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but prompts a smile. On the masthead of New York Times: "All the News That's Fit to Print"! What's the purpose of the news, the secular press anyway? Consider names of secular papers:
Herald, Chronicle, Times, Life, World, At best the secular press aims to inform the people so that they can make good judgments, to connect them with the wider community and world, and to be a watchdog against abuse of power At it's worst it is crass commercialism, or worse, a means demagoguery, yellow journalism that alienates and divides What is the purpose of the Church's press? Consider the names of our papers:
Herald, Chronicle, Times, Life, World, What are the stories your write, the articles that make a difference? What is your task? Your purpose? You are journalists and chroniclers. You tell the stories of our life together, our ministries, our struggles, our foibles, our joys. You provide and support internal communications within our religious institutional life, vital to our life together. You are conduits of information, sources insight and analysis. You are interpreters and guides. And you serve a vital role of public relations. You are recruiters and promoters of ministries, and, yes, of egos. On occasion you adopt a prophetic distance/a prophetic stance over against institutional structures. You are Heralds. Consider the symbol of the Episcopal Communicators, printed on the cover of your service leaflet. It is a herald's trumpet, I believe, with a banner hanging from it with the Episcopal Church shield. You are to be heralds. Heralds of the truth. If we had in the pews today the hymnal Lift Every Voice and Sing, II, we would be singing the Gospel Hymn: "I love to tell the story,..." The refrain of our closing
hymn "O Zion, Haste" is Frederick Buechner, in a
little book written in the '70's, Telling the Truth: the Gospel as
Tragedy, Comedy and Fairy tale--a book on the spirituality of
preaching--urges the preacher to: Your job, too, is to tell the truth! But what truth.......? How do you make up your news budget? How do you decide what goes into your newsletter? How do you determine the themes of your video series? ......Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord..... [Final Solemn Collect of Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer p. 280] This is text of the sermon today. Words taken from our collect of the day, the final solemn collect of Good Friday. When I open one of your
papers, magazines, or brochures, or watch your video----more than anything
else, I look for hope. It is absolutely vital that we hear these stories of God's movement, stirring God's people to share in God's loving action. Why just yesterday, the Episcopal News Service release arrived via e-mail, and included news stories by Jim Solheim and others: of the Anglican Peace and Justice Network; the Global Mission Network; the Lutherans struggle with the Concordat and their counter proposals; hearings on a federal Hate Crime bill; and news briefs on many subjects. Included in the release was a wonderful story filed by Ted Malone, about the marriage of Daisy Diaz and Jose Federico Campos, her childhood sweetheart and father of her five children, at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Daisy and Jose are a Salvadoran couple, embroiled in immigration legal entanglements that led to Jose's deportation last year from the United States, under the INS's newly invigorated campaign of immigration control. He had fled here during the El Salvador's civil war, but never applied for his green card because of fear that he would be denied and deported. For ten years he lived here, and was a productive member of our community. The story is about their joyous reunion and marriage. It is also very much the story of the community of the Chapel of the Cross, and the wider community of Chapel Hill, and their efforts to support Daisy and Jose and their children, and to sort out the immigration issues. Howard Hanchey -- professor of pastoral theology at Virginia Seminary in his book From Survival to Celebration---speaking to church leaders, ordained and lay, urges us to focus less on the tasks of leadership and the work we need to do, but rather to seek out what God is doing, take heart from it, and then join in with it! When you choose what to write, let your choice be guided by the question, "What will further the work, love and purpose of Christ?" Seek out the stories of grace and compassion, of courage and faithfulness, of conversion, transformation and rebirth. Tell stories which break open our minds and hearts, that show us where Christ's heart is breaking, so that God's grace can flow through us. Tell stories that call us out of self-centered disregard, to new compassion, care and hope. Seek out such stories-search, listen, and open yourselves-trusting that the Risen Lord is present, the Spirit is at work. And then tell us! Tell the
world! Keep on telling the truth,
God's truth, ********************************************* And on the way, care for your own soul/spiritual life. You see the best and the worst of the Church. Disillusionment, cynicism and despair are frequent companions. And your role of telling the truth brings you up against unfair structures and self-serving people all too frequently. Seek the things that give you life, that give you joy. Let God love you. Seek out the community that will sustain you. Resist the temptation to stand alone, away from the people. And remember...remember the stories you've read and the stories you've written. Remember the truth. Some other words written by
Buechner speak to my heart. Perhaps they will to yours: ********************************************* And love and support each other: for there are hard things, hard times. Read each others' work---for there is much good news in them. Take home that directory of the Episcopal Communicators, and use it. Reach out to those at home who feed and sustain your soul. Open yourselves to God's grace in surprising places. And let the people tell you the truth as well........for they know it, too ********************************************* What a week! What a week this has been. Meditations from Bishop Tharp on feeding the soul, mind and body . Stories and a sojourn to the Highlander School and it's work in civil rights and of empowering poor people. The prophetic witness and story telling of Will Campbell. We've been challenged and renewed......I've been renewed. It's been a wonderful week in the Church's commemoration as well: last Sunday was Pentecost;then remembrances of Jackson Kemper; the Venerable Bede; Augustine of Canterbury; the First Book of Common Prayer; and the Ember Days--days of prayer for the ministers of the Church. And look what's coming up next week: Trinity Sunday tomorrow; Memorial Day and the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Justin, Martyr of Rome; the Martyrs of Lyons; the Martyrs of Uganda; and Boniface of Mainz, missionary to Germany and Martyr. The week past and the week to come is just as rich with witness and grace in your own home congregations, dioceses, and workplaces. Seek out those stories. Tell those stories! Let the whole world see and know
that things which were cast down things
which had grown old and
that all things by Him through whom all things
were made, And now, Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. AMEN © 1999 David C. Moore
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