The Feeding of the Five Thousand (and “gathering up the fragments”)
11 Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. 12 And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets
Yesterday Trump had some peaceful protesters teargassed and forced out of Lafayette Park with rubber bullets and “flash bangs” (what is a flash bang?) so he could stand in front of a church for a photo op.
Female reporter: “Is that your Bible?”
Trump: “It is a bible.”
The bishop was not amused.
Heh, Episcopalians. You know their people are undoubtedly in the crowd demonstrating.
So how is Wikipedia doing?
Episcopalians belong to the Mainline Protestant family, a family that is shrinking, even as the southern evangelicals are growing, with the movement of non-union manufacturing to the South. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_Protestant But you won’t find that in their article.
Mariann Budde. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariann_Budde Short and sweet. Barely above stub status.
Her book is “Gathering up the Fragments: Preaching as Spiritual Practice”. (For context, see the epigraph above, under the post title.) [gbooks]
Mariann Edgar Budde shows how pastors can create a solid foundation for preaching by taking the fragments of their own life and ministry – their studies, personal life experiences, and relationships with their congregations – and weaving them together in a homiletic mosaic that will bring glory to God and illumination for themselves and their listeners…. Budde believes that preaching is a form of art – a profoundly satisfying creative expression with intrinsic value, a gift from God that ministers offer back to the congregations they serve.
Well, thank you, bishop, for the performance art, and yes, that was some “profoundly satisfying” Twitter fodder.
The bishop’s domain also includes the Washington National Cathedral. You may remember during President Bush’s funeral at the National Cathedral, Donnie and Melania stood with arms folded while the rest of the presidents read the Apostles Creed from the bulletin: “Trumps take heat for not reciting Apostles’ Creed at George H.W. Bush funeral“.
I see Budde recorded something for a Sunday broadcast back in March, when she was self-quarantined at home after a possible exposure to coronavirus, and dedicated her remarks to Bishop Barbara Harris, the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion, who had died a few days earlier. It seems the Episcopalians are not lacking in firebrands. Wikipedia said:
“As the first woman ordained as a bishop, and as an African American, she received death threats and obscene messages. Though urged to wear a bulletproof vest to her ordination, she refused. A contingent of the Boston police were assigned to her consecration.”
Harris even incited an Anglican schism: the Episcopal Synod of America, “opposed to women’s ordination.” The breakoff denomination was led by Clarence Pope, who later joined the Roman Catholic church, then returned to the Episcopal church before returning to the Catholic church for the third time. Now THAT is a short Wikipedia article.
Here’s what they look like: 
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