Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 7:30 PM
The First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena
3700 East Sierra Madre Boulevard, Pasadena, California

A reception will follow at the church.

Vesting & Locations Information

Bishops: Rochet, red chimere and red stole

Priests and Deacons: Alb and red stole

Bishops and Service Participants: Lower Level Room 112

Priests and Deacons: Lower Level Room 101

Hotel Accommodations
Embassy Suites Hotel, Arcadia-Pasadena
211 E. Huntington Drive
Arcadia, CA 91006
(626) 445-8525

The special nightly rate of $129 includes a “cook-to-order” breakfast and a complimentary Manager’s Reception each night. There will also be a shuttle service (seven-passenger van) available on a first-come, first-serve basis between the hotel and the church.

In order to take advantage of this rate, reservations must be made by August 18, 2009. Be sure to reference the Anglican Mission when making your reservations.

It was a wonderful treat to be with my new colleagues at the Investiture of Archbishop Duncan and to speak at the closing session. Our time was brief Thursday morning, so as promised, I have made the full text of my notes available here. Not every point in the outline will be clear without my comments, but use what you can…for the sake of others!

The House of Bishops of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda (PEAR) met in Kigali, Rwanda on the 13th June 2009. Acknowledging the significant growth of the missionary outreach initiated by PEAR in the USA, the House of Bishops considered nominations for additional missionary Bishops to further the work of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA). The House of Bishops elected three bishops and appointed them to serve in PEAR’s missionary jurisdiction in North America committed to extending God’s kingdom. The bishops –elect are:

The Rev. Dr. Todd Hunter

The Rev. Canon Doc Loomis

The Rev. Silas TAK Yin Ng

The date for the consecrations has been set for September 2009.

To find out more on this exciting news, visit Churches for the Sake of Others or The Anglican Mission in the Americas.

Check out Todd’s latest blog as well, as Todd invites us to embark on a journey of discovering the rhythms of daily offices.

Thus rather than having a quarrel with church or small groups, through 3 is Enough Groups I am trying to give Christians a way to grow in Christ and be his ambassador within the already existing rhythms and routines of their lives. But, because there is a meeting component within the 3iE structure, I want to recount a couple things I heard Chris Webb, President of Renovare, say during a conference at which we were both speakers. When meeting with your 3iE Group—or any group for that matter, use the following guideline:

• Encourage: as often as possible
• Give advice: only once in great while
• Reprove: only when absolutely necessary
• Be judgmental: never

What we are looking for in a 3iE Group is loving accountability that expresses itself mostly in mutual learning. This growth in grace and in spiritual transformation happens best as we examen our own conscious, not to judge others. Ignatius developed examen as a way of life for Jesuits. Examen is most simply a weighing out. Picture in your mind a scale—for instance the kind used in the gold rush to weigh gold. When the balance was true, when the needle or pointer at the top of the scale between the two dangling plates was right on the middle mark, the examen was over and it had done its useful job.

This is what we are doing in 3iE Groups: we are simply helping each other find that sweet spot in our conscious wherein we are growing in Jesus such that those around us experience us and our growth in Jesus in a way that is good for them—what I simply call serve. Here’s the key thought: we can help each other examen ourselves with the kind of joy children have learning the guitar together: showing each other how to finger new bar-chords or play new riffs, etc.

Accountability, in my long experience, can never be forced—it is a matter of the heart. A person intent on doing wrong or determined not to grow in Jesus will find a way to frustrate even the best methods of spiritual formation. On the contrary the person whose will is set to do good will make almost any system of discipleship work. For Ignatius, examen was not judgmental—it was a way of practicing the presence of God. It is very similar to what I call “The Golden Triangle of Presence” in my book Christianity Beyond Belief

In 3 is Enough Groups we banish judgmental practices and pick up encouragement through examen instead.