Second, July sees us returning to Wednesdays, where we’ll stay for the foreseeable future. Hopefully we’ll have fewer travel conflicts.

Third, this Wednesday, I’ll be hosting Transmission at my place – send an email if you need directions. Dan will be leading the ritual (I’m not sure yet what he has planned), and I’ll be cooking. See you then!

-isaac

Personally, I’m a realist about church life – keeping a building open costs a lot of money, and building mainteance isn’t always the most Jesus-like way for a church to use its resources.¬† I don’t think that churches dying is a tragedy as long as new churches are planted.¬† Cells in our body die all the time and are replaced with new ones, and it’s a natural part of the life cycle.¬† That said, I think that these vigils are an amazing testament to the bottom-up nature of the Body of Christ.¬† Just like a mustard bush, the Church of God springs up like a weed in places that the gardner doesn’t always want it to, and it can be really, really hard to get rid of.

My prayers are with both those holding vigil and the diocesan leaders, and I’ll be watching how this develops with interest.

You can read more about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/us/06vigil.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em

Although up until now I’ve only heard Jews and Muslims use the word haram (i.e. forbidden), I was super excited that Christianity is getting some positive press in NYC.¬† Woo Hoo!

the ritual will be planned around St. Thomas, who brought Christianity to India in 52 AD. George and I visited the place where he landed and the Pontifical Shrine and hospital that have been built there. We will also talk about the two main stories about Thomas in the Gospel of John – 14:5-6 and 20:24-29 (the story that got him dubbed “Doubting Thomas”). I like the idea of “doubting, yet doing” and of “not knowing the way”…

Transmission will be Wednesday, 7pm, at Bowie’s place. If you get lost, feel free to call me. I’ll be cooking.

We’ll also have four pieces of business to discuss:

• Our beloved Katherine has moved to Chicago to be with her family, which means that we need someone else to step up and replace her as co-facilitator. I think it’s really important to have two people putting Transmission in the front of their brainspace, not only because it’s a lot of work but also because a community shouldn’t become centralized around one person.
• Starlight Ministries, another church-ish group that has a peculiar calling to sex worker ministry, wants to sponsor a program with us this summer called Exotic Dancer, MBA, which basically gives basic business and personal finance education to people in the sex industry. It’s very important work, and I think it’s exactly the sort of thing we should be involved with. You can read about it here: http://starlight-ministries.org/wp_blog_1/
• Mabel and Paul want to organize a trip to the Creation museum in Kentucky in August, which I think could be a great time. Note that this is *not* an endorsement of creationism…
• We’re meeting this Tuesday, 2pm with Intercession to discuss the possibility of inhabiting their currently vacant rectory, which would be a big move for Transmission. Anyway who wants to come and meet them, see the space, and be a part of our initial conversation should totally come, just let me know.

I have high hopes for this guy.¬† He mentioned the emerging church in some of his introductory remarks and seems hip to a lot of emerging concepts.¬† He also seems open to new models of ministry and expressions of church, so I’m hoping we might be able to count on some support from the Lutherans as we continue to evolve as a community.

Like many mainline denominations, the Lutherans are facing a severe drop in attendance and many of the churches in NYC are failing.¬† Many of the candidates for bishop talked about closing churches and consolidating congregations, which means that the Synod might have some extra real estate on its hands, and there are LOTS of ways I could imagine Transmission putting those to use…

Please especially note these “Scripture Soundbites” on poverty, compiled by Ron Sider –

In remembrance of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, Dr. Ron Sider of Evangelicals For Social Action, a CCT participant, provided “God, the Poor and Us: Forty Biblical Reminders,” 40 biblical texts that highlight God’s special concern for poor people. The document is available here.

Today I arrived in Baltimore for the CCT Annual Meeting, which includes a day in DC addressing domestic poverty (see the CCT Statement of Poverty that was passed by consensus last year) and discernment about how we can evangelize together. Yup, you heard that right!

This meeting also has personal meaning for me, because it was at last year’s gathering in Pasadena that I met the Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel, who lives ten blocks from me in West Harlem, and at whose party in April I met my (now) husband, George! Goes to show you never can tell.

Come to think of it, I also met Samir Selmanovic at last year’s meeting, who has since moved to NYC, is in the process of starting Faith House, an interfaith community in Manhattan.

I am also excited that two other women from exciting NYC organizations are here this year: Lisa Sharon Harper from New York Faith & Justice and Onleilove Alston from the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary.

Please read a little about this group on their website (www.christianchurchestogether.org) and keep us in your prayers this week.

Thanks and blessings, Bowie

Transmission, PONY, $pread, and friends teamed up this April to plan Easter at Avalon, which celebrated the role of Mary Magdalene in Christian and Sex Worker history. This Monday, we’ve been invited to stand together again.

“December 17th is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Join $pread and SWANK (Sex Worker Action New york) on Monday for a candlelight vigil to honor and mourn the sex workers who have died this year and raise awareness of the violence faced by our community. Current and former sex workers, friends and allies all welcome.”

5-7 pm (Bowie will be there at 5). On the steps of Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY. Wear red or bring a red umbrella.

Wednesday, Dec 19th – Transmission: Lessons & Carols

Five days before Christmas, come sing carols and listen to lessons that tell us the story of Advent and Christmas! The service of ‘Lessons and Carols’ has been celebrated since the late 1800′s and we will be sure to include some processing around, incense, and a bidding prayer to add extra cheer.

There are nine lessons and nine carols. Please email bowie at epiphany.ny@gmail.com if you would like to read a lesson, re-write a lesson (or do some other creative rendition thereof), accompany a carol, or do a performance of one!

Cookies, treats, dinner items, beverages, plus your friends & loved ones are most welcome! Location TBA

BAZAAR – looking for Christmas gifts? Buy a subscription to $pread Magazine: Illuminating the Sex Industry. Or check out Thistle Farms. Thistle Farms products are made with the most natural products available whenever possible. Magdalene is a recovery community for women with a criminal history of prostitution and addiction. Thistle Farms is a non-profit business. All proceeds go directly to the program and the women.