And the times change yet again…

Ok, now for the latest installment of “As the times change…”  Sit up and pay attention, because this change will affect just about everyone.  On Sunday morning, November 1, the US will move from Daylight to Standard time.  Which means that Second Life Time will move back one hour relative to where you are, if you are not in the US.  And if you ARE in the US, don’t forget to change your clocks before you go to bed on Saturday!

Our midweek services will return to their normal times – Cathedral services at 2pm SLT, Morning Prayer at midnight SLT, and Evening Prayer at noon SLT.  All of the other services will remain at their regular SLT times.

 

All Souls Day approaches, and more fun with time zones!

We are heading towards the commemoration of All Souls and All Saints Day, when we will hold special services to mark this time of remembrance of those who have gone before us.  If you would like to have a loved one remembered during these services, please leave a notecard with your request in the prayerbox in the cathedral (next to the votive candle stand).  Alternatively contact Helene Milena at ailsa [at] ailsa-wright.net.

Ok, folks, hang on to your seats.  The times are changing again, and this is where things get a bit tricky…

Both the UK and Europe move from Daylight to Standard time this Sunday morning.  The US clocks (and by extension, SL Time) will follow suit one week later.  For this in-between week, we will be adjusting the times of the services geared toward our UK/European community members.  So, for the next week ONLY, Morning and Evening Prayer services will be held at 1am and 1pm SLT respectively, then return to the regular times of midnight and noon SLT.  Also, the weekday services normally held at 2pm will move to 3pm for next week ONLY.  The other services will remain unchanged.

Yeah, it’s a lot to take in.  Easiest way is just to check the weekly events schedule.

 

Will you let me be your servant?

” The Servant Song” was written by Richard Gillard and is well known in many Christian circles today.
It is the most fitting sense of today’s Gospel that I could imagine.
I have shared this song in a variety of Christian settings over the last 30 years.
Each time it has carried deep meaning to all the participants in any setting.
The most meaningful settings, however, have been in the context of small prayer groups dedicated to living and learning together.

To Read More click here:

 

A change in the Leadership Team

Those of you who have been a part of our community for a while will remember the popular, and often lively, discussion group that met every Saturday up through last spring.  This group was led by the creative and seemingly tireless Arundel Dragonash, who has served on the AoSL Leadership Team for the past year.  Since then, she has made a personal transition (in her own words) “from a productive member of society to the parasite known as a graduate student!”  She shares that as a consequence of this “I find that I am amply supplied with intellectual stimulation and challenge.  One might say that I am drowning in them (be careful what you wish for!)”

Due to these other commitments, Arundel has decided to step down from her responsibilities as a member of our Leadership Team.  She does plan to remain an active member of our community, as her schedule permits, and “continue to be committed to the mission and values of the group.”

The Leadership Team is most thankful for Arundel’s dedicated service to our ministry, and wish her many blessings on her new ventures!  We are also exploring some new ideas in regard to Saturday events on Epiphany, so stay tuned!

 

Lots of new services!

It’s funny how things come together and guide us towards a course of action. It can happen in our personal lives and it can happen to organisations. I would say it has happened to the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life recently.

My RL vicar asked me if I would pray at home at the same time as he was saying Morning Prayer in church. As I live 10 miles from my church, it made no sense to travel there each day but I was happy to pray as requested. I had found my routine of daily prayer had been disturbed for some time, so this seemed a good way to get back to a pattern. My vicar and I settled on 8am UK time (midnight SLT) for Morning Prayer and at first I simply prayed at home in my study at the beginning of the day. It then occurred to me that I could go and sit in the Meditation Chapel on Epiphany Island and say the office. Having done that for a few days I decided to send an IM to say I was doing so, and one or two people joined me. I then decided to say Evening Prayer at noon SLT (8pm UK).

At that point I thought it best to tell the Leadership Team what I was doing and ask for their approval. They were happy to support this and so I carried on. Very shortly afterwards, two other service leaders also suggested we look at saying the Daily Offices on Epiphany. It became clear that God was nudging us towards this and who am I to argue with God!

Currently, I say Morning Prayer Sunday – Saturday and Evening Prayer Monday – Saturday and am joined by community members and others from all over the world. The largest number there so far has been 6 though sometimes no one comes. Caoilin is now saying the office of Compline at 8.30pm SLT on Monday – Thursday. Similar numbers are attending those services too. We are using the Common Worship services which are available from the browser in the Meditation Chapel.

Already others are reading in these services. It is my hope that teams will be built of those who are confident enough to read the services in voice because then it will spread the load and not leave this part of our ministry dependent on just two people.

I hope you will have an opportunity to attend sometime. You will receive a warm welcome.

Times of services are going to be altering as clocks are changed across the world. We will make sure that we keep everyone informed of the times. 

Meanwhile current times for the offices are:
Midnight SLT Sunday to Saturday
Noon SLT Monday to Saturday
8.30pm SLT Monday to Thursday

 

The Times, They Are A-Changing!

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  The leaves are starting to turn (or the buds are coming out, depending on where you are), and the clocks are once again conspiring to make me crazy.  Time for the bi-annual tweaking of the Anglican Cathedral schedule.  So here we go…

The first of the schedule changes will affect those in the Pacific Rim area, and/or those who attend the Saturday evening service aimed to serve that region.  We are actually adjusting the time of this service to both accommodate the time changes and to move it to a more convenient time for that part of the world.

The Pacific service will move to Saturday at 11pm SLT on October 4. This will be the same time as Sunday, October 5 at:

• 2pm in Perth
• 3:30pm in Darwin
• 4pm in Brisbane
• 5pm in Canberra, Melbourne & Sydney
• 7pm in Auckland & Wellington, New Zealand

These times will remain in effect locally until the next time the clocks move (approx. 6 months from now).  However, be aware of the fact that on November 8 the US will return to Standard Time.  When that happens, the service will move to  Saturday at 10pm SLT in order to correspond to these same local times.

I hope this isn’t too confusing!  Stay tuned for further service and event time adjustments as the rest of the world changes clocks, and let me know if you have any questions!

 

SL Anglican Cathedral featured in PBS program

This weekend, the (US) Public Broadcasting System’s renowned Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly program will broadcast an episode on “Living in Second Life.”  This episode includes segments that were filmed at the SL Anglican cathedral, including an interview of Rev. Mark, Helene Milena and myself.

A video preview of this episode may currently be viewed at the program website http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/.  It is my understanding that the full episode will be available to be viewed on their website later today.

ETA:  The full episode is available here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-18-2009/second-life/4243/.

 

The Christianity in the Digital Space Symposium is underway!

The Christianity in the Digital Space Symposium that we blogged about last week is underway!  And if you are unable to be there in person, you can watch it via streaming media from your desktop.  The sessions are also being recorded for future viewing (check the symposium blog at http://digitalsymp.blogspot.com for updates on this).

Don’t forget, the symposium participants will be taking part in our regular Tuesday worship service (at 2pm SLT) on July 14.  The service will be led by Helene Milena, who (along with Mark Brown) is participating in the symposium in RL.  We hope that many of our community members will be able to attend, and extend a welcome to our visitors!

 

The Vision of Anglicans of Second Life

One of the charges we received from the SL Anglican community in our recent survey was to more clearly define the vision and purpose of our group.  This is a matter that we in the Leadership Team have carefully discussed and prayed about.  The result of this is a revised vision statement which is now posted on our site under the menu item titled “Our Vision.”  We welcome your comments and feedback on this.

 

Prayer service for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church

As many of you aware, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC) is currently underway.  Our friends at the Anglican Ecumenical Society (AES) are currently hosting prayer sessions for the General Convention, as well as for TEC, the Anglican Communion, and for the body of Christ.

The Anglican Cathedral in Second Life will be joining in this effort by holding a time of prayer for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and for all Christian people throughout the world, that we may grow in love and understanding for one another and follow God’s ways.

We invite you to join us at the Cathedral on Saturday, July 11 for this event, starting at 11am SLT.  On each quarter hour, as announced by the cathedral bell, a section of Psalm 119 will be read and then the rest of that 15 minutes will be available for typed or private prayer from those present.

This is a time of deep divisions in the life of our church, and our goal here is to promote healing and unity amongst all Christians.  Our friends in the AES have posted some excellent guidelines for prayer on this matter, which they summarize below:

“The purpose here is to pray for God’s Will to be done. We hope that liberals and conservatives alike will come to pray. For the sake of preserving an atmosphere of peace, we hope that prayers posted will not presume or ask for any particular outcome, nor preach on any hot-button issue. Let’s bathe the General Convention in prayer, draw close to Him as we might and trust God for truth, clarity, and courage to face the future. We hope these guidelines are clear enough.”

Anyone who has voice and wishes to read a section of the psalm is welcome to contact Helene Milena, either before the service, or by IM at the time of the service.  If you read, go to the lectern just before the quarter hour and begin reading once the Cathedral bell has rung. The text will be posted automatically but it will be easier if you simply read from the notecard. Please leave time for responses.

At 1pm we will begin a short worship service.