Introducing my new Amazon Kindle eBook series about my years in the USMC.
Kindle eBook Link
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
William J Cabaniss Jr biography available in Kindle eBook format
My biography of William Jelks Cabaniss, Jr. is now available in Kindle eBook format.Cabaniss Kindle eBook link
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Going Green - sort of
The global warming pseudo-evidence is so persuasive that I
have decided to Go Green. Over my lifetime I have noticed how harmful the Sun
is to us human beings. But the wisdom contained in the Serenity Prayer restrains
me from changing what the Sun is doing to us. Therefore, I have begun writing a
book on how we human beings can protect ourselves from this awful and radiating
invasion of Earth’s atmosphere – and I’m sure Al Gore will appreciate my
effort. My book is entitled “50 GRADES OF SHADE.”
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Book - From My Father's House
Coming soon from Archdeacon Books, "From My Father's House" by author J.N. Sullivan.
"From My Father’s House" reads like a memoir, putting the reader into small town life in a bygone time. Yet its plot carries the two main characters to a climactic turning point of insight that sets them on a trajectory leading beyond the pages of the novel.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Episcopal Synod of America
Does anyone remember the Episcopal Synod of America
(ESA)? Some will recall the effort. If memory serves, the start-up effort
occurred in early June, 1989 when the Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth
(ECUSA), the Right Reverend Clarence Pope, convened the Synod’s first gathering
– in a large Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. This gathering in Fort Worth
occurred, coincidentally, at the same time of the Tiananmen Square uprising and
subsequent massacre in China.
Many, if not most, of the participants were Anglo Catholic
laypersons and clergy within the Episcopal Church. Needless to say, they were
not pleased with the direction being forged by the national leadership of The Episcopal
Church. This ESA effort, it must be said, preceded the formation of the Anglican
Mission in America (AMiA) in the year 2000 and many other foreign-hosted Anglican ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the United States that followed: (i..e., Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Southeast Asia, and Bolivia.
To expand the historical context of internal skirmishes: at a convention in St. Louis, Missouri in 1976 many individual churches, both lay and clergy, separated themselves from the Episcopal Church and formed several Anglican jurisdictions known generally as the "Continuing Churches." In 1873 the Reformed Episcopal Church was organized by a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church (now TEC).
But in August, 1997, the Bishop of Dallas, the Right Reverend
James M. Stanton, issued a statement to his diocesan clergy referencing the
progress of ESA and the prevailing issue at that time. Stanton had already
founded the American Anglican Council (AAC); a para-church organization still in operation in
2015.
Bishop Stanton said in his statement that the bishops of the church had earlier
given its approvals to the ordinations and consecrations of the bishops of the
dioceses of Eau Claire, San Joaquin, Fort Worth, and Quincy (all orthodox,
Anglo-Catholic dioceses). Those bishops were opposed to the ordination of
women as presbyters (priests) or overseers (bishops) and the House of [voting] Bishops knew that position in advance of the consecrations. Pressure was already building among national church leaders to force bishops and dioceses to ordain women. This was a side issue, probably, but one which had its effect on ESA.
The prevailing issue causing Stanton’s letter to be written
was a statement by ESA that it would become a “province.”
Here are some items from Bishop Stanton’s letter to his
clergy dated August 11, 1997:
1.
The ESA leadership has made it clear that it
will stay within ECUSA (now TEC)
2.
The exact nature or definition of “province” by
ESA remained unclear
3.
Stanton stated that he will “continue to be in
communion” with the bishops of ESA “come what may”
4.
The position of the American Anglican Council on
this issue was identical to that of Bishop Stanton. The AAC also considered the
ESA as an affiliate ministry. The AAC had a woman presbyter on its board of
directors.
5.
Bishop Stanton and Bishop Jack Iker (Fort Worth)
had worked together for three years on a plan for Stanton to ordain women to
the presbyterate from the Fort Worth diocese.
6.
Confusion arose about Stanton’s position.
Stanton wrote that he stood with all the bishops of the Episcopal Church. He
challenged the charge that he stood with ESA in respect to their opposition women’s ordination. He
said he ordains women in his diocese and implied that he would not oppose fellow bishops who
would not ordain women.
7.
Stanton expressed his hope he and his
diocese would work to bring unity and healing to this “deeply divided church”
Bishop Stanton ended his statement reminding his clergy
that the [secular] press “is not sensitive to the theological and
ecclesiastical nuances of statements or messages coming from various quarters
of the Church.” An understatement if there ever was one.
The probable tipping point within the ranks of the Episcopal Church came in year 2003 when a priest, a practicing, non-celibate homosexual man, was elected bishop of one of
the dioceses of the Episcopal Church. Call it reaction, change or realignment, it came rapidly but at a
lethargically ecclesiastical pace, nonetheless.
In 2015 the issues within the greater Anglican Communion
have changed somewhat from that of the 1980s and 1990s. The Episcopal Church in
the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada have journeyed in a
direction that many believe is neither biblical, nor orthodox Christianity.
Out of
necessity the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a new Anglican Province,
was formed more than five years ago with the consent, support, and endorsement
of the majority of Primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Recognition of
ACNA is currently withheld by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Church unity seems to be a futile dream, but the Anglican
Re-alignment is underway and the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be forwarded by
His faithful church.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
United States Marine Corps in the 1960s
Between June 1962 and the end of September 1966 I served in the United States Marine Corps. Only in retrospect have I realized that I witnessed in person some significant events in our nation's (and world) history.
Some months ago I began retrieving my records, any record, from that period of time and I am documenting and indexing the collected information for those years. Hopefully, if I have the time, I will write my memoirs but only for those four-plus years in USMC.
On Christmas Eve day, 1963 I arrived at Naha, Okinawa after crossing the Pacific Ocean on a 30-day voyage. Prior to this new assignment I served at Parris Island, SC (boot camp), Camp Geiger, NC (Infantry Training Regiment), and the Second Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point, NC.
When I first reported to Cherry Point in October, 1962 I found mayhem. The Cuban Missile Crisis had just begun. It seemed like all of the Marines and Airmen from Cherry Point, Camp LeJeune, and Seymore Johnson AFB (Goldsboro, NC) were present at Cherry Point. Their families were there, too. No room, no space. People were living in cars, trucks, jeeps. We thought this would be the end. But, about Okinawa ...
I was on Okinawa in 1964 when the Alaskan earthquake sent tsunami waves across the Pacific. The tsunami barely affected Okinawa but it brought death and destruction to people in Washington state, Oregon, and northern California - not to mention Alaska itself and Canada. Most people do not know this.
The Bob Hope USO show came to Okinawa while I was there. It was around Christmas time 1964. I got close enough to take pictures of Mr. Hope and the many movie stars of that era.
The President of Indonesia changed planes on Okinawa en route to NYC to withdraw his country from the United Nations. The U.S. government would not allow the Indonesian plane to land on U.S. soil. So, the Indonesian president transferred to an American military plane on Okinawa.
I was a member of the Third Marine Division Band. The band plus four platoons from the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines rendered a honor guard parade salute to the Indonesian leader, twice - arriving and departing. He received four ruffles and flourishes as for any head of state. That was in January, 1965, I think.
Also while on Okinawa, two Viet Cong (VC) PT boats attempted to torpedo two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. Within two days it seemed to me like the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet was anchored the harbor leading to the East China Sea below my barracks on Okinawa . The sight of all those ships reminded me of the old TV series "Victory at Sea." The sight of all those ships also brought the thought of World War III.
I returned to the U.S. in late January, 1965 and was stationed at what was then called Marine Corps Schools (MCS) in Quantico, Virginia. Our band, during the final five or six months of my extended enlistment, spent much of its time at Arlington Cemetery marching through its winding walkway paths and playing music (funeral dirges) for deceased Marines from the then-hot Vietnam War. On some of those days at Arlington, four military bands lined up for funerals in rotation.
On September 30, 1966 I was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
Some months ago I began retrieving my records, any record, from that period of time and I am documenting and indexing the collected information for those years. Hopefully, if I have the time, I will write my memoirs but only for those four-plus years in USMC.
On Christmas Eve day, 1963 I arrived at Naha, Okinawa after crossing the Pacific Ocean on a 30-day voyage. Prior to this new assignment I served at Parris Island, SC (boot camp), Camp Geiger, NC (Infantry Training Regiment), and the Second Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point, NC.
When I first reported to Cherry Point in October, 1962 I found mayhem. The Cuban Missile Crisis had just begun. It seemed like all of the Marines and Airmen from Cherry Point, Camp LeJeune, and Seymore Johnson AFB (Goldsboro, NC) were present at Cherry Point. Their families were there, too. No room, no space. People were living in cars, trucks, jeeps. We thought this would be the end. But, about Okinawa ...
I was on Okinawa in 1964 when the Alaskan earthquake sent tsunami waves across the Pacific. The tsunami barely affected Okinawa but it brought death and destruction to people in Washington state, Oregon, and northern California - not to mention Alaska itself and Canada. Most people do not know this.
The Bob Hope USO show came to Okinawa while I was there. It was around Christmas time 1964. I got close enough to take pictures of Mr. Hope and the many movie stars of that era.
The President of Indonesia changed planes on Okinawa en route to NYC to withdraw his country from the United Nations. The U.S. government would not allow the Indonesian plane to land on U.S. soil. So, the Indonesian president transferred to an American military plane on Okinawa.
I was a member of the Third Marine Division Band. The band plus four platoons from the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marines rendered a honor guard parade salute to the Indonesian leader, twice - arriving and departing. He received four ruffles and flourishes as for any head of state. That was in January, 1965, I think.
Also while on Okinawa, two Viet Cong (VC) PT boats attempted to torpedo two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam. Within two days it seemed to me like the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet was anchored the harbor leading to the East China Sea below my barracks on Okinawa . The sight of all those ships reminded me of the old TV series "Victory at Sea." The sight of all those ships also brought the thought of World War III.
I returned to the U.S. in late January, 1965 and was stationed at what was then called Marine Corps Schools (MCS) in Quantico, Virginia. Our band, during the final five or six months of my extended enlistment, spent much of its time at Arlington Cemetery marching through its winding walkway paths and playing music (funeral dirges) for deceased Marines from the then-hot Vietnam War. On some of those days at Arlington, four military bands lined up for funerals in rotation.
On September 30, 1966 I was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps.
The Deacon
What is the status of a deacon? I refer to deacons in the catholic churches, such Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic.
In those churches deacons are clergy, the lower - if you will - of the three ordained orders. The other two are presbyters (priests) and overseers (bishops).
What is the status of a deacon relative to the bishop? Traditionally, deacons are attached to their diocesan bishop and not to the presbyter/rector at a local parish where the deacon might be assigned. Yes, some level of oversight is assigned to the rector over clergy on staff. But in the end, deacons belong to their bishop.
As such, what happens when a bishop abdicates his responsibilities to his deacons? Bishops and presbyters are, in a sense, collegial. Bishops and deacons do not traditionally have a collegial relationship. Deacons are subordinate to bishops. Deacons are not mini-priests, either.
Church order is vitally important to the proper proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is the bishop who must maintain all those things, including each part of Holy Orders, within the overall governance of his diocese.
In those churches deacons are clergy, the lower - if you will - of the three ordained orders. The other two are presbyters (priests) and overseers (bishops).
What is the status of a deacon relative to the bishop? Traditionally, deacons are attached to their diocesan bishop and not to the presbyter/rector at a local parish where the deacon might be assigned. Yes, some level of oversight is assigned to the rector over clergy on staff. But in the end, deacons belong to their bishop.
As such, what happens when a bishop abdicates his responsibilities to his deacons? Bishops and presbyters are, in a sense, collegial. Bishops and deacons do not traditionally have a collegial relationship. Deacons are subordinate to bishops. Deacons are not mini-priests, either.
Church order is vitally important to the proper proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is the bishop who must maintain all those things, including each part of Holy Orders, within the overall governance of his diocese.
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