Another message was that we must differentiate between the Experience and the Explanation of God. Although Bishop Spong recommends sweeping changes in institutional Christianity, he remains a staunch Christian, and says that we must discern between the erroneous explanations in our Bible and liturgy which should be changed or deleted, and the actual experience of God’s message of love. To say the explanations are outdated and dead is not to say that God is dead.

Yearly I look forward to the last week of June as one of the most energizing, and refreshing, week of the whole year. My first attendance was a way for me to escape the insanity of today’s world and work, for a measly $330, which included lodging and meals, for 5 days of peace and spiritual renewal.

But I found more than peace. I found a community of the most intelligent, witty, learned, loving people I’ve known in my life, and I eagerly look forward to this annual event.

In typical Christian order, we had the same agenda every day starting with Morning Worship - one for traditionalists and one led by Reverend Bruce Stewart for non-traditionalists looking for new ways to worship. The service was short, with ever present eye-opener coffee, and followed by a hearty cafeteria breakfast in the dining room. I always tried to be good and limit myself to scrambled eggs but sometimes the smell of the french toast or pancakes with syrup was too much for me and I succumbed, but I made sure to top it all off with fresh fruit to negate the calories so I wouldn’t drift off during the general lecture after breakfast. Besides we needed sustenance to get us through the busy morning walking first to the library auditorium for the general lecture, then up the big grassy hill for a small group discussion to share thoughts raised from the general lecture or our courses, and then on to session 1 of the course we chose.

Our mid-day lunch of our choice of cold or hot lunchs and calorie negating fresh fruit prepared us for session 2 of our course which lasted until approximately 3:30 when we were let loose to go wild until dinner. The evening meal was always a sit-down catered event and a little more formal with some people actually changing from their sneaks and shorts into slacks and sandals. Each night I would sit at a different table so I would meet more new people and hear new discussions and feedback on the day’s events. The conversation was always scintillating and liberally punctuated with Episcopalian humour. I wish I could have brought everyone home with me. But I made a pledge to myself to regularly start inviting friends to share a meal and conversation.

Evening worship was followed by a social hour(s), and there’s no one more sociable than these Episcopalians, from the socializing in the Worship building after the service to the front-porch sitters at the dorm buildings where we shared rooms for the week. Wednesday afternoon was totally free to spend as we wish - contemplating a local golf course, or the scene across the most picturesque Seneca Lake, or the Women’s Hall of Fame, or testing the wines at local wineries - for the Eucharist back home, of course.

This year was even more appealing to me as our General Lecturer was the Right Reverend John Shelby Spong - "Jack" to his friends, whom I had admired since first reading his best-selling book "Saving the Bible from Fundamentalism". Bishop Spong was formerly Bishop of the Newark NJ Diocese and is now spending his time lecturing at Harvard and all over the world, and writing, with his most recent book "Reading The Bible Through Jewish Eyes" due out very soon. In the meantime I am reading his best selling book ‘Why Christianity Must Change or Die" and you can read a review of that book in our Books Department.

His lectures were drawn from his personal experiences and writings in four of his numerous books. Over the course of 4 days he touched on every "touchy" subject possible, explaining why the media had branded him a controversial liberal, even a heretic.

His views cover a broad spectrum from the speculation on the possibility that Jesus might have been married to Mary Magdalene; to sexual ethics - ‘when the value of human sexuality is repressed, it returns as pornography. When we try to take sex away from love, we succeed only in taking love away from sex. Ethics and morality must go beyond this false dichotomy’; to a call in 1987, on the church officially to end its homophobic practices, and then following his words with action in 1988 by ordaining an openly gay man.

Bishop Spong examined the relevance of institutional Christianity — from the Apostles Creed, to the Ten Commandments, and everything in between, in his lectures and his book ‘Why Christianity Must Change or Die".

For instance in the chapter entitled ‘A New Basis for Ethics in a New Age’ he says, "the seventh commandment, against adultery, was enjoined in a culture that practiced polygamy, not monogamy. A man could possess as many women as he could afford. In its primary literal meaning, this condemnation prohibited a man from violating the woman who was the property or possession of another man. The proof that this was the essential meaning of this law is found in that, according to this code of conduct, if a Jewish man had a sexual liaison with an unmarried woman, it was not adultery. It was rather a crime against the property of her father, for which the offender would be fined the amount necessary to make the father financially whole. The father had had his net worth devalued by this act, since he could not get the proper "bride price" for a daughter who was now "damaged goods." A code of law that treats human beings as if they are property needs to be pronounced immoral at once and forthwith abandoned. Parts of the Ten Commandments are surely in this category."

Lest you assume that we were subjected to the endless droning of a super-intellect, I have to report that the good Bishop is also a great humorist and his lectures are generously enhanced with humorous anecdotes, bringing down the house with uproarious laughter, and turning the tables on the far right wing conservatives and critics who are easy targets. Reading his books will enlighten and inform you beyond any others today, but to capture this knowledge in our own human frame of reference you have to hear him speak, in person or on audio or video.

What shone through in all his lectures was his devotion and love of God, and from Chapter One of the book referenced above - "I define myself above all other things as a believer. I am indeed a passionate believer. God is the ultimate reality in my life." to the Epilogue of the book where he states his own belief creed from his own journey - "I believe that there is a transcending reality present in the very heart of life. I name that reality God... I believe in Jesus, called Messiah, or Christ..."

Besides the daily lectures, we attended the course we had chosen, from among nine fascinating topics. One of the biggest challenges of the conference is being limited to only one course for the week! These Episcopalians always come up with the most interesting topics. This year I chose ‘My Brother Ishmael: An Introduction to Islam for Christians’ by Reverend Zev Rosenberg, of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH.

Reverend Rosenberg, a scholar in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, was well prepared to educate us in the tenets of Islam, and help us to better understand this least understood but fastest growing religion today. To put things into perspective, he pointed out that there were actually more Muslims in the U.S. than Espiscopalians.

Rev. Rosenberg’s sessions covered general history including the "Holy" Crusades, and spiritual history including references to Jesus from the Christian Bible and the Qu’ran, as well as a wonderful video on ‘Rumi - Poet of the Heart’, a teacher and prophet of Islam from 700 years ago, who is actually the best selling poet in the U.S. nowadays. The video had comments from translators of the Rumi poems and documented the life of Rumi, including the creation of the ‘whirling dirveshes’, by Rumi’s students. Everything we read and saw confirmed our belief that Islam was a religion of peace, and could not be a basis for terrorism. Visit the very enlightening Rumi site through the link below for more information on Islam and Rumi’s love poems.

I had hoped to understand why some Muslims perpetrated the 911 tragedy, and other terrorist acts, and to look for a way to make these people stop their heinous acts. But in my conversation with Rev. Rosenberg he felt that maybe the only thing we could do on a world basis was to enter into prolonged dialogue and negotiation with leaders of this faith. On a local level we can communicate with Muslims and show them that we don’t hold them personally responsible for acts of terrorist Muslims, whose acts are a corruption of the Islam faith. I only have one friend who is Muslim and we have mutual respect and caring for each other, and I don’t know of any other Muslims in my immediate community so I don’t know how much I can add to the world search for peace among all faiths. But I can, and will, always behave in a loving way toward all people, as Jesus said in his last commandment to us ‘Love one another, as I have loved you’.

Our worship services under the direction of Reverend Bruce Stewart and our music director David Smith were a mix of traditional and non-traditional liturgy. David Smith’s capabilities were evident as he merged dozens of unknown voices into a full fledged harmonious choir, singing new hymns from new sources they had never heard of before, and forming the accompanist group ‘Rushing Mighty Wind Ensemble’ of volunteer musicians with drums, flute, piano, and featuring Reverend Ted Tate on hammered dulcimer.

Rev. Stewart does not have his own parish but is Director of The Center for Liturgy and the Arts in Annandale VA. The pamphlet states he is "a priest, dancer, musician, storyteller, clown, mine, juggler, liturgical artist, consultant, and catalyst for creativity." He certainly used most, if not all of his many talents to make our evening worship services spiritually uplifting and renewing. Although he has been performing his creative liturgy for over twenty years he looks as youthful as he must have looked 20 years ago - must be all that that play in his services and events, from conferences to arts festivals, to bible schools, to monastic communities, to youth groups, or schools, colleges and seminaries, and a long list of others in the U.S., England and Scotland. For more information contact Bruce at phone/fax: 703-941-9422

You can participate with Bruce at the annual "Solo Flight conference - A National Episcopal Conference for Adults Who Are Single" on August 30 - September 2, 2002, at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville NC. The 2002 Theme is ‘Flying Solo - and Soaring to Wider Perspectives’. Single adults from 31 dioceses coast-to-coast attended last year’s conference. Total cost is $345, with a $50. deposit required. Balance is due August 15th. 

For more information on Solo Flight contact:  
Catch The Vision,  St. Peter's Episcopal Church,  P.O. Box 27, 
Paris, KY  40362 

For information or registration on Kanuga Conferences go to http://www.kanuga.org  or call 828-692-9136 or Fax: 828-696-3589.

As an ordinary non-scholarly single, my view of Christianity and Bishop Spong’s teaching, is that our loving God is very much alive, in all of us. I couldn’t possibly do justice to Bishop Spong’s lectures in these condensed pages. Your best course of action, if you’re interested, is to read his books or attend his lectures, and judge for yourself, or use the contact info on the right, for further information.

To contact me with your comments, please use our contact form. I’ve been so overwhelmed with porno crap, because I have "singles" in my email address, I’m not able to publish my address on this site.

I plan to attend the Kanuga conference so please let me know if you will too so that we can arrange to meet and share a meal together too.

Internet References: 

An Episcopal Conference Center:  http://www.kanuga.com   

The Episcopal Church in the USA: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ 

Rumi, Poet of the Heart:  http://www.rumi.org.uk/