[Magdalen] whose theology is this?

[Ginga Wilder]

Georgia:  I wonder if your supply priest
was being very literal about who you neighbor is, as in "Love your
neighbor as yourself."

Ginga: absolutely.  Very narrow interpretation.  He challenged a person in
the class when she shared her thoughts about the importance of who is in
the White House and how the US Gov't works.  His comment was that he is
from Canada and they have had universal health care forever.

My confrontation of him was that I felt he needed to know his audience.  He
truly was addressing us as if we had never prayed or studied and we are
just wandering about being ignorant.  I was insulted.  I shared that we are
Episcopalians who have recently suffered the trauma of schism and we are
continuing as an Episcopal church to the best of our abilities.  And, with
all the gray heads in the crowd, we have prayed, studied, and done ministry
for years and years.  I told him that his words felt very much like the
personal judgment that came from the clergy who broke away from TEC.

I thought later, that I might have invited him to know us before ripping
into us, but I didn't go there.  I kept myself from asking if he voted in
US elections...he has dual citizenship.

His theology seems rather monastic to me...take care of what is before you
and that's all you'll have time to do.  I have my own personal ministries
with real people on the ground in my life.  And, Good Shepherd has a
significant outreach into the Summerville community.  We also have an ERD
representative in the parish.

Thanks, Georgia.
Ginga





On Sun, Mar 1, 2015 at 5:20 PM, Georgia DuBose <gdubose at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm not sure, truthfully. And I'm no theological guru, and that phrase
> makes me hesitant to stick my neck out, but I will share two very
> recent experiences. Interesting timing. I wonder if your supply priest
> was being very literal about who you neighbor is, as in "Love your
> neighbor as yourself."
>
> Just before you posted this, I watched a video about a kid with no
> jacket on a freezing street in Manhattan. In two hours, the only
> person who helped him was a homeless person. That guy could not help a
> starving person in South Sudan, but he did what he could for the
> person in front of him.
>
> Yesterday, at a congregational development meeting in Ashland, Oregon,
> one of the priest's husband had volunteered to cook for the group of
> 60+ assembled to learn about Congregational Development Systems from
> the College of Congregational Development folks in the Diocese of
> Olympia. When he took a bag out to recycling, he found a guy asleep
> next to the bin, and invited him in for breakfast, which he was in the
> process of cooking. The homeless guy ate a LOT (which was fine,
> because there was plenty of food). Then he sat there while we learned
> about Kurt Lewin's theories of organizational development. I have no
> idea what he thought about that--but he clearly wasn't hungry any
> longer.
>
> Bob has founded a cold weather homeless shelter here in Florence,
> Oregon--and we also support 2 orphans at an orphanage a friend of ours
> runs in Uganda. I personally would never run down the excellent work
> of ERD.
>
> It sounds like a limited perspective the supply priest offered--very
> limited. At the same time, I would guess he probably didn't learn
> anything if you read him the riot act, as my dad used to say.
>
> If you were able to share your concerns without "sharing" anger or
> negativity, when the fellow gets down off his high horse, he might be
> able to reconsider his stance, because someone took the trouble to
> gently point in another direction.
>
> Georgia+
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 1, 2015 at 1:56 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Our supply clergy this morning was from another diocese...a very liberal
> > diocese....but I don't think this is liberal thought.  He taught Adult CE
> > and preached.
> >
> > His premise this morning, among other things was that 'we really cannot
> > change the world.  We do not need to concern ourselves with the world
> > beyond our neighborhood.  Rather than give money to support ministries
> like
> > ERD, we should simply walk across the street and meet the need of our
> > neighbor.  (His example was giving money to a particular person in a 3rd
> > world country, rather than my ERD example, but the point is the same.)
> He
> > went on to declare that from a theological perspective, we do not need to
> > concern ourselves with politics...or even care about politics because we
> > cannot make a difference or change the world.  It was a one way
> > street...meet the need before you and ignore/don't care about anything
> > beyond.
> >
> > I behaved badly.  He spoke down to us as of we were the Episcopal
> bumpkins
> > in SC and I called him on it.  Now I'm having a major shame attack, even
> > though more than a few people thanked me....that has just made it worse
> > because my behavior was so similar to how nack in the mid 2000s, I
> > confronted the the teaching of the ultra conservative priests at St.
> > Paul's.  I'm not sure this makes any sense and I am still upset.
> >
> > So, what think the theological gurus in the pub (all of us) about this
> > theology??
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ginga
>