The Magdalene Mystique » 2007 » May

The Author

Betty Conrad Adam, an Episcopal priest, is resident Canon Theologian at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, and spiritual director of the Magdalene Community. She holds a PhD in philosphy from Rice University and was a recipient of a Merrill Fellowship at the Harvard Divinity School.

The Book

The Magdalene Mystique retells the story of Mary Magdalene for our time. As the consummate “other” who is mislabelled and demonized, the Magdalene becomes an ancestor who can help us bridge our cultural and religious divisions. Her lost Gospel tells us how a more deeply connected consciousness can happen to all of us and how we can be lead into a “shared peace.”

The CD

The Magdalene Mystique: Songs From Within by Anita Kruse is a companion to the book, The Magdalene Mystique. The music that accompanies our services can be found on this CD along with voices from other religious traditions. You will find this music helpful for private devotion or for use in your community.

Archbishop of Canterbury’s First Move

posted May 28th, 2007 at 9:28 am by Betty

Perhaps you have already read that the Archbishop of Canterbury has made a first move (in what seems to me more like a game of chess than a reality) in thinking about who will be and who will not be included in the global gathering at Lambeth, scheduled for three weeks in the summer of 2008 in London. Why am I reminded of one reporter’s words some months past who suggested that there might not be a Lambeth at all. Is this now a wish on my part? Frankly, it’s hard to continue to care. But at this time it looks like Lambeth will take place without New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson and Bishop Martyn Minns of Virginia. For details of this first move by the Archbishop, read from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/us/23anglican.html?_r=1&oref=sloginI have learned to study carefully the words of Bishop Katherine when these decisions comes down from on high. Note that she urges a “calm approach.” And she also added that “the situation could change over the next 14 months.”

My gut feeling is that she is right that the situation will change, and perhaps overnight. That is why I consider this a first move. (And there are signs already that the two lines are lining up.) If this is the game of chess that it feels like, there will be continual moves by the Bishops right up to the time we get to Lambeth.

This is the sort of game that makes me want to take a break. The game (and it is of course a serious game, I understand that) confirms my suspicions that church history is not taken seriously enough. Here we go again excluding and including those not found on the approved list. This all feels so tiresome and so old.
episcopal
Archbishop of Canterbury anglican communion