The Right Rev. Tom Shortell – Convergent Streams

Now More Than Ever…

April 2, 2017April 2, 2017 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

Over a year ago I wrote about community chaplaincy in an article entitled “….Go and Do Likewise.” (Luke 10:37 NVI) Some may disagree with me, but I think that since the November 2016 election, our country has been experiencing an identity crisis on multiple levels in our collective socio-political consciousness. The ‘browning of America’ is […]

The Book Corner

October 1, 2016September 27, 2016 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

The OTHER Catholics Remaking America’s Largest Religion Julie Byrne Columbia University Press 2016 In her book, The OTHER Catholics, author and Professor Julie Byrne elucidates in a very succinct and easy to read and understand manner, the very complex history of a branch of one of the world’s largest religions, Catholicism. The book’s sub-title is, […]

Lent is For Giving

April 1, 2016March 28, 2016 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

In the catholic world, most of us grew up learning that during the period of Lent, we should renounce something during the 40 day preparatory period leading up to Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The purpose, of course, was to help us reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice, the grace of the forgiveness of our sins and […]

Go and Do Likewise

January 1, 2016 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

A lot has been talked about over the years of churches being missional. The question arises, “What do we do?”, “How can we be missional?” I would like to offer a suggestion on how to be missional that can involve many faith-filled believers with a heart to make a difference in their communities. There are […]

The Book Corner

October 1, 2015September 28, 2015 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

A Review of Maurice Monette’s Confessions of a Gay Married Priest. This is the time in salvation history when faith and spirituality are beginning to reign over religiosity. Our society is experiencing a renewed spiritual awakening, a kairos, not only for those groups of people who have been marginalized and ostracized by institutionalized religion, but […]

William Murphy Saints And Sinners - North King Street (Dublin)

Home of Saints and Sinners

July 2, 2015 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

As the saying goes, ¨You don´t know what you´ve got ´til it´s gone¨. Anyone who has done mission work in Latin America can appreciate that saying. For those who have not been to a Latin American country, I thought it would be interesting to give you a description of my new hometown and life here. […]

By Wolfgang Sauber (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

St. David

July 2, 2015July 2, 2015 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

Very few people in the United States are familiar with the Cristera Rebellion, an armed conflict between the Mexican federal government and the Roman Catholic Church that took place from 1924 to 1928, during the presidency of Plutarco Elias Calles. Although presented by the Church as a persecution, it was in fact a political stance […]

Convergence Cont.

April 1, 2015March 16, 2015 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Bishop Tom Shortell. He is not the author, but he received permission from Archbishop David Scott of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches to reprint it here. Our thanks to Archbishop Scott for his permission and to Bishop Shortell for submitting it.) “Therefore, every teacher of the […]

Ut Omnes Unum Sint

January 1, 2015December 3, 2014 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

There is something very special, unique, and even sacred about a dying man’s prayer. When faced with the inevitable, the soul reaches out to God in supplication. Shortly before entering the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing full well the fate that awaited him, Jesus prayed to his Father; first for himself, then for his disciples and […]

Schism

October 1, 2014September 1, 2014 The Right Rev. Tom ShortellLeave a Comment

There has been a lot of publicity lately in the press about priests leaving the Roman Catholic Church to incardinate into other non-Roman catholic jurisdictions. The reasons for leaving the Roman jurisdiction of our catholic faith obviously vary, but for the most part it is because of either discontent or conflict with an archaic, inflexible […]