Our Lady & Revolution Church

I woke up early this morning (4:00 a.m.) to attend a packed service to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe complete with a mariachi band at a Catholic Church just down the street from my new friend Sara's house. When I got home I turned on my computer to read the news and check out some of my favorite blogs. I think it was at God's Politics that I saw an ad for a new television show called "One Punk Under God" on the Sundance Channel. The show sounds pretty interesting, a documentary series about Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's son and the church he started that meets in a bar. You can watch a story about this from MTV news here.

These two widely different examples of contemporary Christianity remind me how immensely diverse and complex this faith really is --- so often the image of Christianity portrayed in the media is monolithic yet mornings like this one give me such hope, inspiration and excitement.

UPDATE: Also on my morning check through the news, blogs and websites I ran across a story about the wonderful Guadalupe Art Program which seeks to empower young Latinas at St. Paul's Cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, read all about it here.

Also Arrested

On Thursday, Father Louis Vitale, OFM was arrested along side Quakers, Episcopalians (myself included). I first met Father Vitale when I was doing my three months of chaplaincy during seminary at St. Francis Hospital in San Francisco. Father Vitale has embodied the Franciscan way of life through practicing solidarity with the poor and nonviolence for many years. Father Vitale has participated in direct action at the School of the Americas and helped open the doors of his parish in the Tenderloin to the homeless. Please read more about this inspiring man of faith here and here.

Also, if you are looking for more information about Christian nonviolence please read this excellent article by Christian theologian Walter Wink. Also helpful resources can be found here.

Episcopal bishop arrested in protest over war in Iraq

Northern California's Episcopalian leader, the newly elected Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, was arrested Thursday afternoon for blocking the front door of the San Francisco federal building to protest the Iraq war.

Andrus, carrying a shepherd's staff and singing "Down by the Riverside,'' was among about 200 protesters who had marched from Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill to join the weekly anti-war rally on Golden Gate Avenue near City Hall.

Read the whole from San Francisco Chronicle story here.

More photos available here.

A great interview and story is available from the Episcopal News Service here.

being peacemakers

Diana Butler Bass has been at it again --- bringing faith, reason, and compassion to the complex issues of our time. Author of Christianity for the Rest of Us, Bass recently posted a profound statement of solidarity with Lisa Jensen, the peace wreath trouble-maker in Colorado on the God's Politics blog. Just today, Bass participated in a live discussion at washingtonpost.com on current challenges within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion. (Definately, read the transcript here.)

As I prepare for tomorrow's witness for peace and rememberance of all who have died in Iraq, I am grateful to be part of a tradition that seeks to embody reconciliation. The Diocese of California's new Bishop Marc Andrus (a "progressive pilgrim" Diana might say) at the last convention received a standing ovation when he said the following,

"The other area I need to mention regards being peacemakers. The writer, Arundhati Roy, who wrote the beautifully crafted novel, The God of Small Things, is also a political essayist of great incisiveness. She has commented that the non-violent movement today is paralyzed in a crisis of how to move forward when the great political leaders of the world powers have learned that they can ignore and sideline mass non-violent protest effectively.

I believe she is correct in this assessment, and I feel a frustration that I think she shares, bordering on desperation, as I look at the reality of the war in Iraq, which I strongly oppose. I want you to know that I will be looking for ways, as the bishop of this diocese, and as an individual Christian, to oppose this war in more effective non-violent ways. It is only fair that you know this." (read the whole thing here)

For more information on tomorrow's (Thursday's) event please click here. If you are far away from the Bay Area please join us by praying for all those who have died and for peace.