The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith

Bishop Beckwith is on sabbatical through Labor Day 2013. His Executive Assistant, Kay Lark, can be reached at 973-430-9976 or klark [at] dioceseofnewark [dot] org. The Bishop's Office fax number is 973-622-6508.

On the Bishop's blog, For Gates of Hope:

The Holy Spirit brings people together – so that we can see and understand each other at the deepest level. And the understanding is, for Christians, that we are all connected through that same Spirit.

On Pentecost afternoon, the Holy Spirit brought many parts of the diocese together to sing, to pray – to have our ministries blessed – and to be fed and freed by the Spirit.

The feast of Pentecost commemorates the release of the Holy Spirit. It is long thought of as the birthday of the church. Scripture records the first Pentecost as happening when people were gathered in one place (Acts 2:1). My guess is that they gathered outside, partly because there were far too many people to be contained indoors and partly because the Spirit, which in Hebrew is Ruah (or breath or wind of God), is most manifest outside.

I have never owned a gun. I last fired one when I was about twelve years old, at a rifle range while at summer camp. I am not part of the gun culture, and know very little about it - except for the flood of resistance released by a portion of that culture toward any legislation that intends to reduce gun violence.