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Bishop's
Notebook
27 October
I
am happy to announce the appointment of CH Gerald J. Blackburn as
the new Director of Military Affairs in my office. Commander Blackburn
brings abundant strengths to this job and in particular noticeable
time in service and pastoral sensitivity. Originally a Southern
Baptist Pastor, Gerry transferred his denominational affiliation
after studying at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. His
canonical residence is the Diocese of East Carolina. He will begin
this job when he is released from the Navy, sometime in the first
quarter of next year.
Gerry's
assignments for 26 years in the Navy have included:
Assistant
District Chaplain, Naval District Washington, Washington, DC
Assistant Command Chaplain, 2d Marine Division, Camp Lejeune,
NC
Command Chaplain, Naval Air Station, Point Mugu, near LA, CA Staff
Chaplain, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, NC
Advanced Course, Naval Chaplains School, Newport, RI
Assistant Command Chaplain, Naval Air Station, Keflavik, Iceland
Pastoral Care Residency, Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA
Command Chaplain, Destroyer Squadron 31, San Diego, CA
Staff Chaplain, Naval Training Center, San Diego, CA
Currently
Gerry is The Deputy Staff Chaplain at the Bureau of Medicine and
Surgery in Washington, DC.
Gerry
is married to Marilyn his wife of thirty-two years. They have two
children: a son, Barry, and a daughter, Lindsay.
CH
Blackburn's duties will include coordinating all aspects of episcopal
outreach to the military community, both Active and Reserves. I
am hoping that we can take a fresh look at our methods and means
with Gerry's appointment. In that regard I have said to him that
my priority in the near term is not necessarily the provision of
programs and conferences but establishing an assurance to each chaplain
of our support and care.
Let
me say how grateful I am to all the candidates who allowed their
names to be considered for this post. The interview process made
me supremely aware again of what talented and dedicated clergy who
have been called by God to this work. +gep
Bishop's
Notebook
18 October 2000
Feast of St. Luke
Dear
Friends in Christ:
Recently
our Presiding Bishop wrote to President Clinton about the Middle
East urging on his work to convert antagonists for the cause for
peace. In that letter, Bishop Griswold lamented the loss of young
lives asking for renewed efforts "for the sake of the children as
well as for justice and peace." Now, a few days later, we have learned
of the explosion on the U.S.S. Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen.
Seventeen
young sailors lost their lives in this tragic event; thirty-five
more were injured. Many were barely beyond being teenagers; some
were still there. Craig Bryan Wibberley, an Episcopalian, graduated
from high school last year and will be buried from his home parish
on Saturday. In the painful calculation of such national tragedies
this is one of the worst.
We
offer prayers and support for the families and crew of the Cole.
The heartache of loss in the streets of Israel and Palestine now
has a somber echo in Norfolk, Virginia and on the deck of the stricken
ship as crewmembers, numb with confusion and grief, fashion makeshift
shelters.
Psalm
90 in last Sunday's worship urged us "to number our days" in the
pursuit of righteous living. Indeed, we hope that all governments
heed such encouragement yet it is a lesson about frailty too. Despite
our designs, the Spirit of Oslo and other peace initiatives, remain
fragile commodities. The Gospel completes the message. The Rich
Young Ruler for all his effort, "lacked for nothing." Without the
capacity to acknowledge a dependence on God we are falsely prepared
for the future.
Let
us steadfastly gather around those who are suffering through these
frightening moments setting our intentions within God's abiding
care.
I
thank God for all our chaplains who are giving support during this
time and particularly for Jay Magness, as the Fifth Fleet Chaplain,
for his sensitive handling of all things in these hectic days. I
am also grateful to Bob Lebron for representing all of us at Craig
Wibberley's funeral on Saturday.
Faithfully,
+George
Packard
Special
Announcement: The Rev. Gerald J. Blackburn has been hired as
the new Director of Military Affairs in Bishop Packard's Office.
Gerry's selection, and agreement to serve, ends process begun soon
after the Rev. Bill Noble resigned last spring to be the Deputy
for Program at the Episcopal Church Center. Chaplain Blackburn is
currently assigned as a Commander in the Navy at the Bureau of Medicine
and Surgery in Washington, DC. Fr. Blackburn is married to Marilyn,
his wife of 32 years. Marilyn is a teacher in the local school system
and recently was the Director of the Sylvan Learning Center in Alexandria,
Virginia. The Blackburns have a son and daughter. A full article
about this breaking news will appear in next week's "Notebook."
13 October
It
is the news you don't want to hear. The Destroyer U.S.S. Cole, while
completing a routine mooring operation in the Port of Ada, Yemen,
had an explosion amidships killing six sailors that we know of at
this writing. As CH Jay Magness said to me on the phone from Norfolk,
Headquarters for the Fifth Fleet, " We are now preparing additional
notifications on the status of missing persons." The numbers will
change and more families will trade anxiety for grief. That's where
our prayers are directed.
The
Cole and her crew were travelling to be on station with the rest
of the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group in the Persian Gulf. They were
"just doing their duty" as President Clinton observed. Nevertheless
a smaller craft came alongside, and after performing a normal docking
function, delivered the devastating charge. The fact of a terrorist
attack seems nearly verifiable and adds thoughts of revenge to our
sorrow.
Ministering
in this time requires clear thinking. Even our presidential candidates
were united on accountability for these perpetrators. I am often
asked about vengeance as an action plan and motive of justice for
national policy in a crisis like this. The well-worn use of Leviticus
24:19-20, "an eye for an eye", was never meant to be an unfettered
action plan, but rather a qualification to the unbridled use of
retribution. In other words, "do no more than this", would be the
proper admonition ascribed to this biblical selection.
Our
sense of justice comes from a deeper sense of things. It is revealed
in scripture as in Micah 7:18, "Who is a God like you, who forgives
iniquity and passes over the transgression?...He retains not his
anger forever because he delights in mercy and loving kindness."
Just as it is easy to overlook the consequences to sin inferred
in this passage (God is angry.); it also requires discernment that
something greater is at stake: the ideas of "covenant" and "shalom."
God has guaranteed an agreement with his people (covenant) that
there will always be an opportunity to re-establish a reconciling
"all-rightness" (shalom) in the course of things.
Right
now we are bewildered, angry, and feel a profound sorrow over the
loss of these sailors who served in our name. But we must not lose
the assurance of God's care and struggle to be His people to see
justice beyond punishment to its next abiding day.
+gep
Note:
Helpful reading is "Changing Lenses", Herald Press, 1995, by Howard
Zehr. I used it in this article.+g
Bishop's
Notebook
6
October
Back from Germany-Italy Brook and I delighted in the hospitality
of our chaplains in Italy: CH Jeff Logan and his premier tour of
Pompeii and a cookout hosted by CH Steve Pike and his wife Dawna
and children Stephanie and Joey.
The
Sacramental Rite for Megan Elsbeth Grant was defining too.
Megan was confirmed during the chapel service in Naples, Italy,
but she lives in Gaeta two hours away near Sixth Fleet headquarters
where her Dad, Larry, works. Megan was just back from running a
5K race in Milan with her school. So in addition to the drive down
to Naples she was just off an 8-hour bus trip. She looked tired
but alert. It was appealing to hear her characterize the Run not
as winning but as "I improved my time."
The
Grants deserve special credit for getting there since Larry arrived
back from Egypt the day before, where in addition to finishing an
assignment, he also picked up intestinal flu. During the service
he looked not only proud, but also a little green. Of him I kept
thinking, "What a trooper!" Still energy abounded as younger brother
Stuart was promised by Mom, Coralee, "that perhaps next time it
will be your turn."
I
can't say the Church greets this response everywhere. Why? Part
of the answer is the supportive relationship the family has with
Chaplain Bob Lawrence and his wife, Lynn who attended with sons,
Newman and Will Henry. Sometimes our sense of "congregation" is
defined by encouraging conversations with just a few people. The
devotion of Larry and Coralee are key here, of course, and later
they were to tell me of another Episcopal chaplain, a Reservist,
who was a sensitive pastor during a critical family moment. So much
of what we do contributes to an accumulation of ministry with no
guarantees of seeing a later affirmative act.
Before
the Service I try to have a one-on-one with the Confirmand(s). Megan
was more than ready with a memorized Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments,
and Apostle's Creed. She even gently boasted of books of the Bible
and other assignments she'd completed. Good for her; however our
chat wasn't a test to verify eligibility, but pointed to building
a relationship, the touchstone of Confirmation. It also indicated
to me moments of "sentience" which describes the spiritual awareness
a person has that she/he stands apart and before God.
Meeting
the likes of Megan should give us all hope.
+gep
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