Many here already know that +Martha Shultz, longtime presiding bishop of the New Order of Glastonbury, passed away on April 28. She was the primary consecrator of my primary consecrator, +Catherine Adams – so, in some sense, my episcopal grandmother. My prayers are with her husband +Dale, their family, and the NOG.
This evening I pulled out my copy of Martha’s book, Dialogues with the Master (Yellow Jacket, CO: SanGraal Press, 1998), in which she records meditations and thoughts which she believed came to her from Christ, Mary, and the angels. I turned to this passage on pp.129-130:
The time of large priestly organizations is nearly past. Individual priesthood will become the goal of all true spiritual workers. People must be taught that they truly are priests…. The priestly work of modifying and channeling Energy may be done by any who have prepared themselves for this Holy Task. …. Your group is an example of what ‘church’ will be in the future: small groups associating with and encouraging each other, accepting differences and acknowledging their common ideas – a bond based on brother/sisterhood and unconditional Love.
A beautiful vision, IMHO. May Martha pray for us, and help us on our way, from her place within the love of Christ.
Priestcraft 
May 17, 2007 at 5:43 pm |
Hi Bishop John!
It’s been a while since I’ve read your blog — I haven’t tried to see if Google Reader can handle password-protected blogs. Anyway, I really really like what Bishop Martha had to say about priestly organizations. It reminds me about an article I read recently about the Office in the “Age of Tubes”: we generate communities (or rather, they are germinated and take root by the warmth of the Spirit) spontaneously, based on a common vision of worship and service that is rooted in continuity with a tradition, and the communities go about their work of worship and service by being faithful to their tradition and values. This is how community works in a geographically, ethnically, culturally diverse world.