Mamma Mia!

On Saturday Mr S and I are going to see the stage version of "Mamma Mia! - The Musical" at the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale. Currently, I have been told that we are now a group of around 31 people that are going. It is going to be difficult for dinner afterwards, but we have decided on the Cheese Cake Factory on Las Olas (If you can't find something on the menu you like, you can always start with desert).

My Persian Princess, Poneh will be in town and going to the show with us. We are hoping that she will get her Florida License this year, open her own Dr's office and be our own eye care professional. She is still in California, but has her brother's small place in Miami Beach.

If we get back early enough, we will hit the Palace to meet up with Provincetown Jerry and some of her friends. I haven't seen Miss Tiffany since I replaced her ear rings (That's a story for another time).

Also this weekend, I have two church meetings on Sunday and then we will be thrust into the month of February ( A very busy month, which I will write about later). This year is already going too fast for me already....

Hope all of you in the colder regions are keeping safe and warm ..... Have some virtual Hot Chocolate on me.....

Weekend Debauchery

Well... I guess the "season" is in full swing. European and Canadian visitors are around and the temperature has plummeted down (I always say they bring it with them). Also, the Northern friends and dignitaries are making their way down to the sun, fun and surf now and in the next few months.....Alan and Darren, Randee, Douglas, Provincetown Jerry, The Countess.... and maybe some last minute visitors...

First up is the Friday afternoon Pool Side Party at the Tides given by Alan and Darren. They are here escaping from Newport, RI and we always enjoy their company. It should be a hoot. They have The Mrs Astor as an event planner and Geraldine is to perform, along with a DJ and some refreshment. The one thing I'm not sure of is what to wear for a Pool Side Event if the temperature is below 70?

In the evening Twist will be having it's Warsaw Party. It is a night of excess and glamor and shows. I helped the manager in finding some Cuban Bakery cakes that they will serve in all the rooms. The plan is for different flavors, etc.....It is a Marie Antoinette type theme this year. Hmm? Cake, alcohol and dancing could mean a big clean up job on Saturday morning....

Warsaw was located where Jerry's Deli is now on Collins in South Beach. I used to go there with my sister before it was Warsaw and was named: Ovo's at the Warsaw Ballroom. It was when South Beach was still grimy and getting it's Mojo back in the 80's/early 90's. Many memories from both places ..... some will never be disclosed........ well....maybe someday.....

Saturday is the 7th Annual Dachshund Winterfest Festival from 12 noon to 2 PM. It is a fun, free event with a parade, games and activities for the dogs, etc and The Mrs Astor will be the Doxie Fortune Teller this year. (If I am not helping Mr. S with a job that morning, I will be there. )

Sunday, I get a little more dignified. It is the 25th Anniversary of Bishop Frade's ordination as Bishop (He was the Bishop of Honduras before becoming the Bishop of the Diocese of Southeast Florida). The Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Katherine Jefferts-Shori, will be in attendance and delivering the sermon. It is at 4:00 PM at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Miami and is open to the public. The parking will be at the Omni because the parking lot will be used for an outdoor reception.

I guess that's the weekend. Along the way I am still in the middle of planning the Winter Party Festival LGBT Family Picnic (Feb 22, 12 noon to 4 PM @ TY Park)... along with other committee responsibilities.... and Happening #24 for the Diocesan Youth.

Hope you all are keeping warm. Keep praying for the country....Peace.

Opening Inaugural Event: Prayer by Bishop V. Gene Robinson

(Note: HBO did not broadcast this in the original presentation, but will do so in future showings. The full text below and you tube video link to the right. Article and other info can be found through the Episcopal New Service and http://www.episcopalchurch.org/)


Jan 18, 2009
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama

By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire

Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009

Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.


And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.

Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.

Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.

Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.

And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

AMEN.

Inauguration Day 2009

As a friend put it " Today is the end of an error". As President Shrub departs and President Obama enters, I am very optimistic. But, I know there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done ... there is s**t left behind that needs to be cleaned up before we can start smelling the roses. We can not place all the responsibility and hope on one person. We must continue the process that has begun of working together to find solutions and carry them out.

For now, let's try to enjoy the day as a United States .......

'Purpose-Driven' pastor offers space to dissident Episcopalians

(As a side note: Bishop Gene Robinson was recently asked to also attend the Presidential Inaguration by Barak Obama.)

From the Episcopal News Service

"Purpose-Driven" pastor offers space to dissident Episcopalians

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, January 13, 2009

The Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of southern California-based Saddleback Church and a leading conservative evangelical, has reportedly told a number of Anglican leaders that he is willing to aid dissident Episcopalians in southern California.

"We stand in solidarity with them, and with all orthodox, evangelical Anglicans. I offer the campus of Saddleback Church to any Anglican congregation who need a place to meet, or if you want to plant a new congregation in south Orange County," Warren reportedly wrote recently in a letter.

Kristin Cole, an account executive with A. Larry Ross Communications which is based in Dallas, Texas, and handles public relations for Saddleback Church, told ENS that Warren sent the letter to "30 top Anglican leaders" including many in the global south. The letter was intended to be private, Cole said, and declined to release a copy of the letter and a list of its recipients.


Edited excerpts from the letter were made public by Timothy Morgan, deputy managing editor of Christianity Today. Cole said Warren gave a copy of the letter to Morgan because the editor had accompanied him on trips to Africa, reported on those trips for Christianity Today and helps edit a blog that Warren's wife, Kay, writes for the magazine's website.


In the edited excerpts, Warren referred to a recent landmark California court ruling that the buildings and other property of St. James Church in Newport Beach are held in trust for the Diocese of Los Angeles and the entire Episcopal Church and thus do not belong to the St. James members who left the Episcopal Church.


The Rev. Richard Crocker, St. James' newly-arrived rector, told ENS January 12 that he had not seen Warren's letter but that the congregation was "very encouraged and gratified" by what he called an example of the generosity of the wider Christian community." Despite the court decision, Crocker said the congregation had no immediate plans to move but added that "all offers like that will be part of our future considerations."


St. James and other breakaway Episcopal congregations are "actively pursuing and contemplating church plantings in the region," he said. Warren's support is welcome, Crocker said, adding that he is not sure just how he and others would avail themselves of the offer. He hopes to meet with Warren "in the near future."


Referring to Anglican African bishops Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda, Henry Orombi of Uganda, and Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, Warren also reportedly claims in his letter that the Episcopal Church "already considered me an adversary after partnering on projects with Kolini, Orumbi [sic], and Nzimbi, and writing the TIME bio on Akinola." Warren wrote a biography of Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola for Time magazine's 2006 list of 100 "men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world."


Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori declined to comment on Warren's claims.


The projects to which Warren refers are led by his so-called "Purpose-Driven national movements" that he has led in the bishops' three countries. They are spin-offs of his best-selling book "The Purpose-Driven Life."

The edited excerpt of Warren's letter claims that he is on "[Diocese of New Hampshire] Gene Robinson and other's attack list for my position on gay marriage." Warren was a prominent supporter of California's Proposition 8, which was passed last November and banned same-gender marriage in the state.

Robinson told ENS January 12 it was inappropriate for President-elect Barack Obama to invite Warren to deliver the invocation at the January 20 swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol because it would give high prominence at to a person whose views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people "are pretty awful." Warren has equated gay relationships to incest and child abuse.

Robinson specifically praised parts of Warren's ministry which Warren claimed had put him at odds with the Episcopal Church. "I feel very positively about Rick Warren in some ways. He has broken from his evangelical brothers and sisters around his compassion of AIDS victims and his working on alleviating global poverty," Robinson said.

New Year, New Post, Pics from the end of the year...

This is my first post of 2009. I thought I was going to write something deep or personal or with some type of epiphany that would get the New Year started right. That being said, I've been busy with the Winter Party Festival Committe (I am now the chair for the LGBT Family Picnic on Feb 22, 2009, 12 noon to 4 PM at TY Park), planning a youth church event for March, getting prepared to teach a "Safeguarding God's Children" class in Spanish, getting used to having a 10 year old around all the time .... all that while putting Mr. S and my family first. Soooooo, enjoy a few pics from the end of the year. I hope your New Year has started off well ............ Peace.