Bishop of Albany's Holy Week and Easter Letter

Received via email:

Holy Week and Easter, 2010


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As the world teeters from one crisis to the next, you and I as Christians can go forward facing the uncertainties and trials of life in confidence, a confidence not from human optimism, but from the salvation and victory won by Jesus Christ against all the forces of evil, hell and death itself.

With the coming of Holy Week, we have the great honor and privilege to join in celebrating the events of our redemption. We begin with Palm Sunday, whereupon we remember and celebrate how our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey (as had been prophesied about the coming of the Messiah) and how many greeted Him, singing, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” On Maundy Thursday, we come together to remember and celebrate the Last Supper Jesus and the Disciples were to have together before His arrest, at which time He instituted what we now know as Holy Communion or the Eucharist. In addition, it was then that the Lord stated, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus would demonstrate the fullness of His love the next day on Good Friday, when He went to the cross, offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all the world—dying in order that we might live. Three days later, on Easter Sunday, we join with all the Heavenly Hosts in singing “Alleluia. Christ is risen!” in celebration of our Lord’s glorious resurrection, wherein He conquered sin and death.

As we enter into Holy Week, we not only commemorate the historical markers of those eight days, but rather we are invited to enter in to a deeper relationship with the crucified and Risen Lord. Each of us brings to this Holy Week our own needs and problems and fears, indeed our own wounds. We can do this because we are confident that the Wounds of Jesus are the source of our forgiveness and healing. We especially bring to Christ what we can take to no one else, our sins. In exchange we receive new life and the promise of the resurrection we all hope for.

But beyond our personal needs and our family needs, the Lord calls us to help others in their own spiritual need. We are surrounded by folks who not only are in need of, but open to experiencing the transforming love of God. I encourage you to invite a friend, a neighbor or a co-worker to come with you this Holy Week. Reach out to someone you care about, and welcome that person to join you on Good Friday to hear the good news of the Savior’s love, and on Easter Day to hear the joyous praise that rings out the Resurrection victory.

As your bishop, I invite you to join the priests and deacons of the diocese at the Chrism Mass in any of three locations across the Diocese, as they renew their commitment to the Lord and to His ministry.*

May the Risen Lord who offered Himself for us upon the Cross fill you with a renewed faith. And may your family and loved ones be filled with the peace that surpasses all human understanding throughout Holy Week and the whole of the Easter Season.


In Christ our Risen Savior,

The Right Reverend William H. Love
Bishop of Albany


* Monday, 6pm the Cathedral; Tuesday 6pm St James, Oneonta; Wed, 12N, St Thomas Tupper Lake

A new Episcopal Congregation In Central New York? NOT!

No, wait.  My mistake.  I would have thought that the obligation to safeguard the legacy of previous generations of Episcopalians would lead the Diocese of Central New York to ensure that the building previously occupied by Good Shepherd, Binghamton would remain an Episcopal church or at least a Christian church.  But, not so......

Instead, the Bishop and/or Standing Committee has opted to sell, not for the assessed value (which the former congregation of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, now the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd was willing to pay) but for 1/3 that value to a.... oh, take a guess.  Will it be a night club? A grocery store? A restaurant?  Some sort of non-profit group?  NO.

Well, actually, I guess it IS a non-profit group after all, because the Diocese has sold the building to an Islamic group.  The Islamic Awareness Center, to be exact.

This is the best comment regarding the Diocese that I have read:

Think about that for a minute - The Episcopal Church (tm) put an active Christian parish out of their traditional home because that parish believes homosexual practice is a sin... and instead sold it to a faith that believes homosexual practice deserves death. 

Above there is a "before" shot of the building. And now, here's what it looks like:

Veggie Tales explains St. Patrick!

St. Patrick's Day Bagpipes

Third Annual St. Patrick's Extravaganza!!!!

The Blood of Cu Chulainn

The Bishop of TEC hath no juridiction in this realm

Resolutions before the South  Carolina Diocesan Convention:

Proposed Resolution R-2      2010 Convention

Offered by:  The Standing Committee

Subject: Response to Ecclesiastical Intrusions by the Presiding Bishop

RESOLVED, That this 219th Convention of the Diocese of  South Carolina affirms its legal and ecclesiastical authority as a sovereign diocese within the Episcopal Church, and be it further

RESOLVED,  That this Convention declares the Presiding Bishop has no authority to retain attorneys in this Diocese that present themselves as the legal counsel for the Episcopal Church in South Carolina, and be it finally

RESOLVED, That the Diocese of South Carolina demands that the Presiding Bishop drop the retainer of all such legal counsel in South Carolina as has been obtained contrary to the express will of this Diocese, which is The Episcopal Church within its borders.

(Hat tip to Chris Johnson)

Good Stewardship or Money Laundering?

If a "Diocese" has a $420,000 grant from The Episcopal Church (DFMS - The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, line 64 in the budget), is it just a coincidence that the "Diocese's" legal fees are nearly the same amount as the grant?  (lines 72 & 73)  Is this not just a way for TEC to sue parishes and individuals in the actual, legitimate Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin while pretending this is an internal argument in the Diocese of San Joaquin?  The Episcopal "Diocese" looks very much like a puppet regime.  

As usual, the Anglican Curmudgeon has an excellent analysis of the whole sorry mess.

Moses and Miriam sing again

JERUSALEM – Two parts of an ancient biblical manuscript separated across centuries and continents were reunited for the first time in a joint display Friday, thanks to an accidental discovery that is helping illuminate a dark period in the history of the Hebrew Bible.

The 1,300-year-old fragments, which are among only a handful ofHebrew biblical manuscripts known to have survived the era in which they were written, existed separately and with their relationship unknown, until a news photograph of one's public unveiling in 2007 caught the attention of the scholars who would eventually link them.

Together, they make up the text of the Song of the Sea, sung by jubilant Israelites after fleeing slavery in Egypt and witnessing the destruction of the pharaoh's armies in theRed Sea.

"The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them,'" reads the song, which appears in the Book of Exodus. "Thou didst blow thy wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters."

An exhibit at Israel's national museum dedicated to the Song of the Sea is now bringing together the two long-separated pieces.

Read the rest...

Thanks to Kendall Harmon