Permit me to tell two stories.  First, a passing conversation.  At a recent choir rehearsal we were rejoined by our organist who had taken a Sunday-morning position playing for a nearby Catholic church.  I entered the conversation just as she was describing a recent multi-cultural Mass which featured, among other things, hymns from around the world and a liturgical dance with lighted candles.

This blog was described to me recently as ‘irenic.’ This is a surprising compliment given that those who know me in person would likely describe me with other, less peaceful, words. That my writing is ‘irenic’ is a testament to the power of editing, of taking a deep breath, and a conviction that words must, whenever possible, be spoken with love and respect. But sometimes, when respect is impossible, taking a deep breath is overrated, and serves merely to hide the suffering inflicted by my church and its well-intentioned theologians. Theologians who seem to have no idea, as Metr.

Sr. Cecelia Harvey

Our Lady of the Sign,
Communities of New Skete

Homily for June 18^th Ro  1:7-12,  Mt. 5:42-48

Before the conference, I was asked to be a “dedicated listener,” sharing my reflections in our final session together.  This is, for the most part, what I said, minus ad lib and tears:

Jenny Mosher gave an excellent presentation on her developing theology of childhood.

Saturday gave conference participants the opportunity to attend smaller workshops on a variety of topics, practical and theological.  I have attached the schedule, and I strongly recommend that if any of the topics are of interest to your communities, invite these women to come and speak!  

Friday afternoon was given over to a panel of four women engaging in active service ministries.  Ann Campbell runs a St. Nektarios OCF house at the University of Oregon.  Over 60% of our youth leave the Orthodox Church when they go to college.  Her job, as she says, is to provide a committed faith-home for students, to be a “midwife for Christian adulthood,” helping students transition into a mature, adult faith. 

The afternoon (yesterday, I am a bit behind) was opened to comments.  Rather than summarize, I am simply going to post peoples (slightly edited and nameless) comments, some of which I found very surprising: