The Elevation of Bob Duncan

I attended the elevation of Robert Duncan as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America last week. The service was two and a half glorious hours long. I made some video from my perspective, and here it is. Enjoy.

The Anglican Church in North America Begins

This is a letter I just sent to my congregation.

The Feast of the Martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul
June 29th, 2009

From Father Thomas McKenzie
Pastor, Church of the Redeemer

To the Members of Church of the Redeemer

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

Grace and Peace to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! My prayers are with you today, as they have been every day of our nearly five years together as a congregation. I hope that your summer is going well, and I am sure that the Lord is at work among you.

I recently returned from Bedford Texas. I was there to witness the birth of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). This was the coming together of 28 full or emerging dioceses representing 700 congregations and about 100 thousand church members. The ACNA will be applying to the 38 Provinces of the world-wide, 79 million member, Anglican Communion for membership as a full Province. (It has already been recognized by some of these Provinces, including the world’s largest.) At this meeting in Texas, the Constitution and Canons of the ACNA were passed by representatives from all 28 dioceses, and Robert (Bob) Duncan, bishop of Pittsburgh, was elevated to the place of Archbishop over the ACNA.

Church of the Redeemer is a member of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). The AMiA is the largest of the founding bodies of the ACNA, and 10 of the first 28 dioceses are AMiA dioceses (which we often call “clusters”). We are members of the Anglican Church in North America because of our membership in the AMiA.

Ten years ago, I was ordained in the Anglican Communion by the Right Reverend Robert Duncan, the man who is now Archbishop. At the time, both he and I were members of the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), which was the Anglican Communion’s Province in the United States.

Five years ago, I was received by the Anglican Province of Rwanda as a priest in that jurisdiction of the Anglican Communion. Church of the Redeemer joined the Anglican Communion as a missionary church under the authority of the Church in Rwanda. The Anglican Mission in the Americas, which we joined then and to which we belong still, was and is a missionary order of that Province.

I have told this story to you before, but it could stand repeating. A couple of years ago, I was sitting with a bishop from Rwanda who told this story to illustrate the situation among Anglican Christians in North America. He said that it is like he was sitting in his house and it started to rain. A man came to the door, and the bishop invited him inside. The man stayed inside until it stopped raining, then the man went home. He said that we Anglicans in North America are like that man. A great storm came up, and we could not walk in the Anglican Way in North America. The Episcopal Church, which had been the only Anglican Province in this country, had simply ceased to be a church of Christian character in its doctrine and discipline. So those of us who wished to be both faithfully Christian and fully Anglican came to the Africans. They have allowed us to stay with them during this time. However, the bishop hoped that soon it would stop raining and we could all go home. The founding of the Anglican Church in North America is our homecoming.

We are still members of the AMiA, and AMiA is still a mission order of Rwanda. So, in effect, we have two archbishops. How can that be? A friend of mine compares our current situation to the era of the Articles of Confederation in American history. You may recall that before the Constitution was adopted, our nation came together under these Articles. It was a time of transition from being ruled by local colonies to being part of a republic of united states. I believe we are in the same process. It is my hope that all of these separate jurisdictions, like the AMiA, will eventually fade away into the Anglican Church in North America. In the meantime, we are blessed to be part of a vibrant and mission minded jurisdiction with a great bishop. We have the freedom to minister the Gospel in our local context, and that is a grace that should not be underestimated.

The Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America gives a great deal of latitude to local dioceses. Our AMiA diocese has not changed. Therefore, I don’t see any direct impact on Church of the Redeemer at this time. We are as we have been, with one important exception: our family has now expanded. This expanded family is the subject I would like to dwell on for the rest of this letter.

I went to Bedford for two reasons. First was to see the elevation of Bob Duncan as Archbishop. This was an historic event, perhaps the most historic thing I have ever been in the room for.

Second, I went to speak to the Youth Delegates at the convention. My talk went well, though there were not many of them present (it was very late, and the event wasn’t well organized or communicated). You can see my talk on-line, if you would like, by following this link.

While I was in Bedford, I got a first-hand look at the great variety in the Anglican Church. One of the great strengths of Anglicanism is its ability to hold a vast number of differing opinions on secondary issues. Unfortunately, there are some in the Anglican world who have disagreements about which issues are secondary and therefore hold tightly to their own opinions. Also, there are many Anglican churches that are embroiled in conflict with the Episcopal Church USA over property issues. Further, there are Anglican congregations that one would not easily characterize as missional or vibrant.

I saw a great deal of joy and hope and Christ-centered living at this event. And I saw some mean-spiritedness, some religiosity, and more fear than I would have liked. There are disagreements, and there are even those who are disagreeable. It is for this reason I would characterize the ACNA as a “weak vessel.”

And that is exactly what we need to be, a weak vessel. If the ACNA not only survives but thrives, if it fulfills its consistently stated goal of reaching the lost with the Gospel of Christ, it will not be because it has all the money, power, and personality on its side. It will be because Jesus Christ Himself is doing a work by the power of the Holy Spirit. No one will say “oh, of course it worked, look how much they had going for them!” Rather, it will be said of us “God was with them.” As Jesus Christ said to St. Paul “"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

On Wednesday night, we gathered at the huge AMiA church called Christ Church in Plano, Texas. (You can see a video of the event from my perspective by clicking here.) There I processed with hundreds of clergy from the U.S. and Canada, representatives from all the various jurisdictions. Charismatics, Anglo Catholics, Evangelicals, Conservatives, Seeker-Sensitive Types, and lovers of Tradition. We may have been disagreeing that morning, but we were united that evening and forever in Christ.

I sat next to Steven Tighe, a man who had helped disciple me in my college years. Beside him was Keith Pozzuto, one of the kids from my first youth group and now a priest. Behind me was Ray Kasch, formerly a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee and a man I had not been in the same church with since I left that denomination. Just in front of me was the head of my seminary, and around us were men and women I have known for many years.

I have to be honest, I suspected this would never happen. I did not know that I would ever again join in one unified Body with the men and women who had discipled me, the leaders I had looked up to, and the young people I have poured my life into. Who knew that I would ever again be in the same Church with Bob Duncan who ordained me, with Rod Whitacre who taught me, with John Rogers who loved me, and with Chuck Murphy who led me? When the presentation was made, when they said “here is your archbishop,” they were talking to all of us. We all shouted and applauded and laughed and sang for joy. I couldn’t help but weep, and tears come to my eyes even now with the thought of it.

The Anglican Church in North America is a family, and you are part of it. We are weak in many ways, but we have the love of God in Christ and a deep commitment to one another. We have a great future, a future of both suffering and triumph, of Cross and Resurrection. We are one Church, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. I wouldn’t have us be any other way.

In Christ,

The Reverend Thomas McKenzie
Pastor, Church of the Redeemer



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One Minute Review: Transformers 2

The One Minute Review of Michael Bay's Transformers 2 is on the HajjPod Podcast. Please, please listen to it before running out to see this movie.

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My Talk to the Youth at ACNA

Here is the talk I gave Tuesday night to the youth delegates at the Anglican Church in North America gathering. The sound stinks, and the camera cuts my head off half the time. And you can't see the awesome powerpoint presentation I keep looking up at. Enjoy!

Untitled from Thomas McKenzie on Vimeo.

I'm Going to Bedford

I will be going to Bedford (DFW), Texas this week to attend the organizing assembly of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The ACNA is the coming together of 28 dioceses, 700 congregations, and 100 thousand Anglican Christians in North America to form a new Province. Essentially, it is the birth of a new American branch of Anglicanism made up of a number of smaller denominations, congregations, and mission groups. My church is part of the The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). The AMiA is one of the founding members of this group, so Church of the Redeemer will be part of ACNA by virute of our membership in the AMiA.

On Wednesday night I expect to witness Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh being made Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America. I will be wearing my clergy robes and standing with hundreds of other priests as we gather at an AMiA church called Christ Church in Plano. This is especially meaningful to me because Bishop Duncan was the man who ordained me over ten years ago. I have a great affection for him.

There will be a large gathering for young people at the Bedford meeting. I was humbled and honored to be invited to be the speaker at this event, and I will be doing that on Tuesday night. I look forward to this a great deal, though I am quite nervous about it right now. Please pray for me.

If you would like to learn more about the gathering, I strongly encourage you to visit the ACNA Assembly website at www.acnaassembly.org. There is a video about the conference which you can view there, or through our church YouTube channel.

For those of you using Twitter, I will be twittering throughout the event. You can read the official church twitter account by following www.twitter.com/RedeemerNash. Or you can follow my personal twitter account at www.twitter.com/thomasmckenzie. The RedeemerNash account is for official church stuff. The thomasmckenzie account is personal, like this blog. So you never know what you're going to get.

I was at another event in the Dallas area back in October of 2003. At the time, I thought it would be the beginning of a new Anglican Church in North America. It wasn't, though it sowed the seeds for this. I remember being discouraged and frustrated with the leadership at the time. Now most of those leaders are stepping up and moving forward with the mission of the Church. While I know that there will be many issues to work through, and many fights to be had, I am excited to be a part of this.

I Sent a Birthday Card

I sent a birthday card
by Thomas McKenzie

If I had not married such a kind and thoughtful woman
no one in my family would ever receive a card from me.
Not for Christmas, or Mother’s Day,
and certainly not for Birthday.

But this year I planned ahead.
I thought about this birthday card.
I pondered it, considered it, meditated on it.

A week before his birthday I went to the drugstore.
I searched the aisle.
I dislike the joking cards, the wordy cards, the kitty cards.
I don’t want an expensive card or a cheap card.
I want a simple card, a solid card.

I bought the card from the man behind the counter.
He wore a blue uniform
and his name tag said my name.
Thomas it said, though he looks nothing like me.
I took the card home and I hid it.
My folded socks kept it warm.

Three days until his birthday, I retrieved it.
I sat
at the kitchen table
I thought
what should I write?

I wrote a card to him
I told him to have a happy birthday
I told him I missed him
and wished I was with him
as I was last year
at his party.

I told him I love him
but I always told him that
and he always told me the same
so we both knew it
but I wrote it anyway.
It must be written.

I sealed the card and drove
to the post office
where I stood in line
so I could buy
a single stamp
which I affixed to the card

I stepped out to the table
near the mail slots
to write the address

But what address do I use?
What would the mailman think?

To my father
Robert Haigh McKenzie
Heaven
care of Amarillo, Texas

I mailed the card to him
It was on time
No one reminded me to buy it
or write it
or send it

He will never read it
but I needed to send it.

happy birthday
all my love
your son
Thomas

My girls are nuts

At Nashville Shores:

One Minute Review: The Taking of Pelham 123

The One-Minute Review of "The Taking of Pelham 123" is on my podcast, hajjpod. Take a listen here.

Oh, and if you have a toddler, don't take her to this movie. Or perhaps you did take her to this movie, at our showing, and you let her crawl around on the floor and yell at you until we had to ask security to come. And then you called my wife a b-- for complaining. And then they tossed you out. True story.


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Trinity Sunday Sermon

Thanks for praying for me as I prepared the Trinity Sunday sermon. If you want to listen to it, it is currently on my church's sermon podcast. So, check it out.

In that sermon, I refer to two things that one cannot duplicate on the podcast. One is the icon seen with this post, the icon of the Old Testament Trinity written by Rublev. The second thing it the portion of the Athanasian Creed that refers directly to the Trinity. We read that portion aloud just before the sermon started, and I reprint it here for your edification.


The Athanasian Creed
(the portion pertaining to the Trinity)

This is the catholic faith:
we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity,
neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Spirit uncreate.
The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit
incomprehensible.
The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.
As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated,
but one uncreated, an one incomprehensible.So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty.
And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord.
And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.
For like as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every Person to be both God and Lord,
So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion, to say,
There be three Gods, or three Lords.
The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten.
The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers;
one Son, not three Sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other;
none is greater, or less than another;But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.
So that in all things, the Unity in Trinity
and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
Amen


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One Minute Review: Terminator Salvation

I finally saw Terminator Salvation. Listen to to the One Minute Review if you want to live. On the HajjPod podcast, and iHajj Tumblr, right now.

I'll be back.

Trinity Sunday

Sunday morning (June 7th this year) is Trinity Sunday. On this day, every Anglican pastor is expected to give a sermon on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. I will follow this tradition, as I have done in each year of my pastoral ministry.

The Trinity is an amazing and complex reality, a truth that transcends words even while it demands them. While I love Trinity Sunday, it always makes my head spin and my guts twist up. Tonight, as I work out my sermon, is no different. So, if you see this message in time, pray for me.

20 Years Later