Sunday, October 31, 2010

Foster parenting case reaches High Court in UK

The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, has joined with three other conservative Church of England bishops (Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt Bishop of Winchester, Rt Revd Peter Forster Bishop of Chester and Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali Former Bishop of Rochester) in asking the UK's high court to allow ant-homosexual "Christians" to serve as tax payer supported foster parents.

On Monday the High Court is to be asked to rule on whether Christians are "fit people" to adopt or foster children – or whether they will be excluded, regardless of the needs of children, from doing so because of the requirements of homosexual rights.


How could this be? Well in the eyes of these conservatives, all real "Christians" condemn homosexuality. No wonder the Church of England continues to shrink: with "leaders" like these four, who needs opponents? MORE

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Covenant: the articles continued

Borrowed form Thinking Anglicans:


And there is media coverage of the IC/MC advert:

Retired chaplains: Preserve 'don't ask'

Dozens of retired military chaplains are warning President Obama and the Pentagon that military ministers whose faiths consider homosexuality a sin will be placed in an impossible situation if the "don't ask, don't tell" policy is thrown out.

If a chaplain preaches against homosexuality, he could conceivably be disciplined as a bigot under the military's nondiscrimination policy, the retired chaplains say. The Pentagon, however, says chaplains' religious beliefs and their need to express them will be respected.

Clergy would be ineligible to serve as chaplains if their churches withdraw their endorsements, as some have threatened to do if "don't ask, don't tell" ends. Critics of allowing openly gay troops fear that clergy will leave the service or be forced to find other jobs in the military that don't involve their faiths. MORE

Survey Finds Negatives of Christianity Easier To Name Than Positives

A recent survey of U.S. adults published on Oct. 25 asked adults open-ended questions about Christianity’s greatest positive and negative contribution to American society in recent years. While three in ten respondents (31%) either said they could not think of or did not know of any negative contributions, well over one-third (36%) either did not think or could not think of any positive contributions Christianity had made. MORE

Friday, October 29, 2010

More parishes reject Church of England bishops who ordain women priests

The number of parishes that have rebelled against the ordination of women has risen by almost a quarter in the last decade in a sign of the growing split between liberals and conservatives within the Church of England.

About 1,000 out of 13,000 CofE parishes have formally registered their objection to women priests working in their own churches.

And some 363 parishes - 23 per cent more than 10 years ago - are now so unhappy at the Church reforms that they are refusing to remain under the pastoral care of their local bishops who have ordained women as priests.
MORE

Exodus over women bishops: what will Rowan Williams do next?

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the problem is not whether or not to have women bishops, but what to do with those Anglicans who disapprove but don't want to leave the church. Read more of this 'the sky is falling even tho there are only 50 clerics talking about converting to the RC Church" story.

Liberal Anglicans challenge 'dogmatic' Church of England covenant

Church proposes covenant involving divisive issues like electing openly gay priests or blessing same-sex unions. The Guardian reports:
Liberal Anglicans today launched a campaign to fight guidelines they claim will make the church "more dogmatic".

Next month the general synod, the governing body of the Church of England, votes on whether to approve a constitution that will define how the communion stays together in the face of divisive issues such as sending clergy to another country without its agreement, electing openly homosexual priests or blessing same-sex unions.

But the groups, Inclusive Church and Modern Church, warn the covenant will "redefine Anglicanism". In full-page adverts, appearing this week in church publications, they say the covenant will make the communion "more dogmatic, inward looking and backward looking".

SAN JOAQUIN: Bishop, Standing Committee raise 'grave concerns' about Springfield election

Central California diocese calls upon others to withhold consent from Martins

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Jerry Lamb and the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin have raised "grave concerns" about the election and planned March 19, 2011, consecration of the Rev. Daniel Martins as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.

Their concerns stem from Martins' "involvement in the attempted separation of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin from the Episcopal Church" when he was rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Stockton (1994-2007), according to an Oct. 16 letter Lamb has sent to diocesan bishops and standing committees throughout the Episcopal Church.

The letter calls upon bishops with jurisdiction (diocesan bishops) and standing committees to withhold their consent to Martins' consecration.

Martins, 50, was rector of St. Anne's Church in Warsaw, in the Diocese of Northern Indiana, when he was elected bishop of Springfield on Sept. 18, 2010.

According to the canons (III.11.4) of the Episcopal Church, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan standing committees must consent to a bishop-elect's ordination as bishop within 120 days of receiving notice of the election.

"Our concern is not about the electing process, but about the suitability of Daniel Martins to be ordained a bishop in the Episcopal Church," the letter states.

"The consent process, as mandated by our canons, is the only way the wider church can respond to the election of a person to be a bishop," the letter continues. "Accordingly, we would ask you to join us in withholding consent for Daniel Martins to become the Bishop of Springfield."

Martins, in a telephone interview from his office at St. Anne's Church in Warsaw, said he was "saddened by the letter. I wish the Diocese of San Joaquin had contacted me first with their concerns so we could have talked about it."

He said that the material cited in the letter, and also posted on the San Joaquin website, "represents an assortment of questionable documents … incomplete information taken out of context that leads to an erroneous conclusion."

That conclusion -- that he might consider leading the Springfield diocese to break with the Episcopal Church -- couldn't be farther from the truth, he said.

"Am I going to lead the diocese out of the Episcopal Church? No. No, that's not anywhere on my mind and nowhere on anybody in Springfield's mind," Martins said. "I wouldn't have allowed my name to go forward in the process for bishop if it was.

"My vocation is to be in the Episcopal Church and I'm quite clear about that. I've never felt more called to a ministry in my life. I've fallen in love with the Diocese of Springfield and I'm excited about the possibilities for ministry. I feel good about the work we will be able to do in the next 10 or 11 years.

"I'm a little mystified why people would think otherwise. I've had plenty of opportunities to leave. I could have stayed in San Joaquin and left."

The Rev. Christopher Ashmore, president of the Springfield Standing Committee, said he was satisfied with Martins' responses during the search process.

"I asked him point blank, 'do you have any intentions of trying to exit the Episcopal Church' and he said 'no, it's not my agenda,'" said Ashmore. He added that he's received inquiries from "a couple of standing committees expressing concerns" regarding the same subject.

"I don't know how the wider church will respond to this, but if it's a difficulty with standing committees or bishops my hope is that they will take time to inquire more deeply, to talk to us or Fr. Martins about it," Ashmore said.

"Consent is a part of who we are and what we do and it needs to be honored," he added. "But I would hope the way we go about doing that would reflect the fact that we're Christians and not out to accomplish particular ends in mind."

Martins said that some in the diocese of San Joaquin might have perceived he was part of Schofield's inner circle. "But, in fact he was very upset with me my last year in the diocese."

Lamb's letter was timed "before the consent process is in full swing" to give others a chance to review pertinent information about Martins. It referred readers to several documents posted on the San Joaquin diocese's website, which cite Martins' apparent participation in plans to separate the diocese from the Episcopal Church under the leadership of former bishop John-David Schofield.

"The Standing Committee and I contend Daniel Martins was instrumental to the process that led to first and second votes by the diocese to change the Constitutions and Canons that resulted in the failed attempt to unilaterally leave the Episcopal Church," according to the Oct. 16 letter.

Schofield, who had cited theological differences over ordaining women and gays, had been at odds with the direction of the Episcopal Church and the 2003 consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire and the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.

According to the letter, at the December 2006 diocesan convention Schofield cited Martins' participation in writing the amendment to the diocesan constitution and canons Schofield used to attempt to leave the Episcopal Church.

Martins said that while he did not overtly oppose Schofield's intentions to leave the Episcopal Church, he was attempting to "blunt and subvert them" by continuing to participate as much as possible on the diocesan standing committee and in other key roles, including as a General Convention deputy.

While acknowledging that he did participate in writing the amendment and voted for it on the first reading, Martins disputed that it led to the break with the Episcopal Church. He left before the convention was asked to vote on the second reading of the amendment, required for it to take effect.

"What led to the break with the Episcopal Church was a canonical change and I was not there for the canonical change," having left in 2007 to become St. Anne's rector.

On Dec. 8, 2007, a majority of congregations meeting at the diocesan convention, under the direction of Schofield, voted to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church and to realign with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, but attempted to keep church property and assets.

A California Superior court ruled July 23, 2009, that a diocese cannot leave the Episcopal Church and that Lamb is the head of the continuing diocese. Schofield was ordered to relinquish all money, property and any assumed authority. That case is still being litigated.

A Fifth District Court of Appeal judge in Fresno heard oral arguments in the case on Oct. 20 and is expected to issue a ruling within 90 days, according to diocesan chancellor Mike Glass.

Lamb's Oct. 16 letter also cited excerpts from Martins blog, "Confessions of a Carioca" including a July 13, 2008, entry in which Martins said he did not recognize the constitutional foundation of the continuing diocese of San Joaquin, "nor the authority of Bishop Jerry Lamb.

"By any rational reading of the Constitution & Canons of the Episcopal Church, we're talking about a bogus diocese with a bogus bishop, though they have some impressive-looking stationery," Martins blogged.

"That they exist at all, and are able to maintain the chimera of legitimacy is a result only of the raw exercise of naked political power on the part of the presiding bishop. She is manifestly guilty of presentable offenses but it will never happen because the political calculus just isn't there."

Asked to comment on that blog, Martins said that while he bears no ill will toward Lamb, he believes that diocesan canons weren't strictly adhered to when reconstituting the Episcopal diocese after the split.

"The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin is what it is and Bishop Lamb is the bishop. Beyond that, I've gotten over it.

"I say that with the realization that the presiding bishop will be my chief consecrator," he said Oct. 29. "I respect her personally, I respect the office, but I still think she made the wrong call. I would hope that in a church that prides itself on its democratic polity, that responsible public criticism of leaders done in a non-inflammatory manner should be within the bounds of acceptability."

-- The Rev. Pat McCaughan is a national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service. She is based in Los Angeles.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Bishop removes four priests from ordained ministry

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence has removed four priests from ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Kenneth Alexander, the Rev. Anthony Kowbeidu, the Rev. Brian Morgan and the Rev. Steve Wood are four of the five priests on staff at St. Andrew's Church in Mount Pleasant. They were removed on Oct. 21.

Wood, St. Andrew's Church rector, posted a copy of the notice Lawrence sent, as canonically required, to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the ecclesiastical authorities of the Episcopal Church and other officials. The document says that the priests were removed for reasons unrelated to their moral character.

During a vote on March 28, 722 ballots were cast by some members of St. Andrew's Church and 703 favored leaving the Episcopal Church, saying they intended to affiliate with the Diocese of the Holy Spirit, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America.

Episcopal Forum of South Carolina cited what they called the diocese's "lack of action" in response to St. Andrew's decision. The group asked the church's Executive Council and the House of Bishops to investigate that and other decisions of the diocese.

During council's recent meeting in Salt Lake City, the members drafted a letter to the group saying that the council and the presiding bishop are "committed to doing what we can to help the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina continue to participate fully in the life, work and mission of the Episcopal Church," but noting that "there are canonical limits to how her office and the Executive Council can intervene." Council member the Rev. Gay Jennings told the council that those limits prevent the investigation that the forum requested.

Reacting to the group's request and refuting the EFSC's charges, Lawrence compared his dispute with the Episcopal Church to a military battle and said the diocese was "engaged in a worldwide struggle for the soul of Anglicanism in the 21st century."

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is a national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service and editor of Episcopal News Monthly and Episcopal News Quarterly.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Anti-Immigration Candidate’s Ties to Anti-Gay Church of Rwanda

Kris Kobach has made a career out of spreading the gospel of anti-immigration. His is the mind behind Arizona’s immigration law that would require police to check the documents of people they suspect are in the country illegally. He has also written various community ordinances for towns across the country that would require landlords to check for citizenship before renting to tenants.

Now, as the Republican candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, he has turned his attention to the non-existent issue of voter fraud. MORE @ Religion Dispatches

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Poll: Negative Church Messages Contribute to Gay and Lesbian Suicides

CANDACE CHELLEW-HODGE wrote:

A new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute reveals our new lesbian friends are among the plurality of Americans who say “that messages coming from places of worship are negative.” Forty-percent of those polled agreed that “these messages contribute ‘a lot’ to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people.”

Those negative perceptions can have a life or death impact on LGBT people. With the recent rash of suicides among young people who have been bullied over their sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation, the messages coming from churches is extremely important.

MORE

Religion Profs Critique PBS’ God Documentary, Call it Simplistic

Well, it’s over. Last week the six-hour, multi-million-dollar Frontline/American Experience production God in Americaaired on PBS. Now the debate over its merits begins.

Reviews from journalists have been mostly positive, although New York Timestelevision critic Mike Hale was not totally impressed. The show, he wrote, was “stuffed with facts and dates and figures” and sometimes strained “to find a way to tie them together.” He also called it “an unusually serious and, to use a word the producers would probably rather not see, intellectual endeavor for television, one that doesn’t make many compromises for short attention spans.”

Some professional historians and scholars of American religion, in contrast, criticized the show from the opposite direction. This is not a surprise. After all, when has the academic community ever been comfortable watching its territory invaded by an army of people lacking PhDs? On blogs, religion and history listserves, and chat rooms around the country, academics have labeled the series “oversimplified,” “truly bizarre,” “simplistic,” “intolerable,” “uneventful,” “underwhelming.” Essentially they are calling the series not enough of an “intellectual endeavor.” MORE @ Religion Dispatches

Monday, October 25, 2010

How and why do young people engage with the Bible?

By Adrian Blenkinsop
(in the Guardian - the Newspaper of the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide)

We know the Bible is a vital part of living as a follower of Christ, and that God speaks to us through his word. There is no doubt that the Bible is integral to leadership, discipleship and simply making sense of this world, yet amongst young people who regularly attend a youth group, less than 4% are regularly reading it.

To address this crisis, the Bible Society in South Australia has initiated the most comprehensive national research ever undertaken into how and why young people engage with the Bible. With partner organisations Anglican Youthworks, The Salvation Army, Scripture Union Australia, and the Lutheran Church of Australia, Bible Society SA has commissioned Philip Hughes (Christian Research Australia) to research a number of critical issues regarding youth culture and Bible engagement in Australia.

So who is reading the Bible?

We know that amongst Australia people (aged 13-24) about 70 per cent never read the Bible. Of those youth who read the Bible daily or weekly, most do so in the context of community. They read and interact with the Bible as a part of a small group, generally with their peers and a leader or mentor. Those who read it frequently are mostly involved in Protestant Evangelical or Charismatic denominations, such as the Pentecostals, Baptists, Lutherans, and Seventh-day Adventists.

Attitudes to reading the Bible

Most of those who read the Bible frequently have made a personal commitment to God and expect God to give definite answers to their prayers and specific guidance for their life. They are reading the Bible as a means of communication, expecting God to speak to speak to them through the Bible. There are many young people who turn tto the Bible when life is not going well, and look for comfort and hope within the text when they are 'hurting deep inside'.

For the majority of young Australians, however, the Bible is simply not 'on their radar'. It is not something they think about. Many of these young people feel the stories in the Bible are 'unbelievable'. They are not sure that God exists, let alone the likelihood that he acts within our world. Therefore they find the Bible difficult to understand, and sometimes contradictory. So most young people experience the Bible as not able to engage with the questions of life that are important to them.
What are the barriers to reading the Bible?

When asked about the barriers to reading the Bible, the are there key issues that emerge. Young people have questions about the meaning of the text that remain unanswered; they would like more involvement and group discussion to express their own thoughts and hear other opinions; and young people respond more positively when the emphasis is on topics which affect their lives and contemporary society.
So where from here?

In the next stage of the research, focus group interviews will be conducted with young people across the country - in every state, in both city and country areas, and covering most major denomination. One of the aims of this new research is to explore what young people think the purpose of the Bible is. Are they approaching it as a book of history, a book of morals, a source of personal encouragement, a set of narratives to shape a worldview, or the record of salvation history?

The research will also reveal what resources, youth events, media and practises ARE effective in engaging youth with the Bible, and the ways youth leaders and denominations are supporting - or not supporting - youth Bible engagement. This research is now underway, with the final results due in November this year. We believe that this body of research will provide denominations and mission organisations in Australia with a clear picture of Australian youth culture and the bible, so we can respond to this crisis in effective and culture-shifting ways.

If you would like more information on this research as its is undertaken, or a full copy of the stage 1 research, please contact me at Bible Society SA at ablenkinsop@bible.com.au

Anglicanism Exodus over women bishops: what will Rowan Williams do next?

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the problem is not whether or not to have women bishops, but what to do with those Anglicans who disapprove but don't want to leave the church.

The UK"S Guardian reports:
It is worth pointing out the sky has not fallen in because of the departure of more than 500 clergy since the 1990s, when women entered the priesthood, receiving payouts totalling £27.4m. Some of them even returned to the fold. In 2008, around 1,300 clergy threatened to leave if the general synod removed legal obstacles barring the ordination of women as bishops. Earlier this year, one traditionalist estimated the figure would be around 200.

This time, however, there is no financial compensation for exiting clergy and Catholic pensions and stipends are far less generous than Anglican ones. Nobody knows how the new enclave will work or what it will offer in terms of housing. There could also be protracted disputes over property ownership. Unsurprisingly, given the levels of uncertainty surrounding the Vatican offer, the number of serving clergy who have thus far announced their intention to convert is two.

CANADA: Diocese of Montreal moves toward shared episcopal ministry

By Harvey Shepherd, October 19, 2010

[Anglican Journal] Parishes and priests not on board with the openness of the Diocese of Montreal and its bishop to the blessing of same-gender unions may get access in the new year to spiritual guidance from a bishop more in tune with their views.

Bishop Barry Clarke told delegates to the annual diocesan synod Oct. 15 that he will make a formal presentation to the diocesan council in January on "shared episcopal ministry." The proposal would permit parishes to have "episcopal oversight" from a fellow bishop. He emphasized that this episcopal ministry would be shared with his own.

"This does not mean that I am abdicating my responsibility as the diocesan bishop to those clergy and parishes," he said in his opening address to the synod. "I emphasize the fact that it is a 'shared' ministry with a fellow bishop. This is a pastoral response to a particular need at this time in our church. The clergy and parishes that may be involved in this shared episcopal ministry will still have to meet their full responsibility to live within the canons and the constitution of our diocese and of our church."

Shared episcopal ministry was proposed in the 2004 Windsor Report, produced by the Lambeth Commission on Communion as a way for the Anglican Communion to maintain unity amid differences over theological interpretations and human sexuality issues. The commission was trying, as Clarke put it, to find a pastoral solution and a "way forward for communities who may feel alienated when a diocese makes a decision to move in a particular direction that they may not feel comfortable with."

The idea also has received sympathetic consideration from the Anglican Church of Canada's House of Bishops. However, no other Canadian diocese has actually implemented such an arrangement.

The bishop said that in recent years discussions and debates over human sexuality and the place of gay, lesbian and transgender individuals in the church "have been challenging and at times, painful" and have caused tensions and disagreements and in some places, "have pushed people to leave our church over decisions we made..."

Clarke said he consulted with Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, and with Archbishop Claude Miller of Fredericton, metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Canada, which takes in much of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, over requests he has had from some clergy and parishes in the Montreal diocese.

"I have met in prayer and in consultation with those members of the diocesan family who have made this request of me. It is my intent to move forward and honor their request."

The bishop's comments follow other moves toward a more open attitude to blessing same-gender marriages. In 2007, a resolution of the synod asked the bishop to authorize a liturgy for the blessing of duly solemnized and registered civil marriages, including those between same-gender couples, and some people in the Montreal diocese have been proposing shared episcopal ministry since then. A liturgy and protocol for implementing same-gender blessings were put in place last June and two such blessings have been quietly performed since then.

There was no formal debate on same-gender issues at the synod. However, in a brief but emotional moment, the bishop returned to Rev. Canon Joyce Sanchez, priest-in-charge of Christ Church Cathedral, the document that authorizes her to perform marriages as a priest. Sanchez, an assistant priest at the cathedral at the time, had surrendered it to the bishop in 2005 rather than be party to what she considered a system that discriminates against gays and lesbians.

"I pray that God will continue to challenge us to move forward with love and justice," she said after accepting the document from the bishop.

She later said the agreement followed a conversation with the bishop over her activity as the chair of the committee that drew up the protocol on same-gender blessings. The bishop pointed out that Sanchez would require her license to participate in carrying out the very policies she had helped to draft. Sanchez continues to believe that Anglican priests should be allowed to marry same-gender couples and not just bless their civil unions, but she thinks the new protocol is a step in the right direction.

-- Harvey Shepherd is the editor of the Montreal Anglican, the newspaper of the Diocese of Montreal.

The US Religious Right and the LGBT Crisis In Uganda

"That environment in Uganda has been intensified over the last year and a half, says Kaggwa, since American religious right activist Scott Lively dropped, in his words, a “nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.” Lively, the former head of the California affiliate of the American Family Association, and an ally of the AFA’s virulently anti-gay policy director Bryan Fischer, led a three-day conference that Kaggwa says sparked a “panic” in evangelical and Pentecostal churches that the “gay agenda” was poised to cause the downfall of Ugandan families and culture. During the conference, Lively blamed gay people for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, equated homosexuality with Nazism, and more generally asserted that gay people are both predators and a foreign infiltration that undermines local values." MORE

“Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam” at the New York Public Library


Three Faiths includes 200 rare and precious works created over the past 1,500 years. Among them, great works of the miniaturist's art and of calligraphy, drawn from all three faiths, delight the eye, as they have done since their creation centuries ago. Manuscript materials are accompanied by some of the most significant printed works of the past 550 years. The scrolls, codices, illuminated manuscripts, and printed volumes are complemented selectively by important bindings, early photographs, prints, maps, and liturgical or ritual objects dating from the fifth century of the Common Era (CE) to the present. NY Times article here.

Illustration: From The New York Public Library. “Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam,” at the New York Public Library, includes this 18th-century Ethiopian illustration of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.

Finns Dump Evangelical Church Over Antigay Comments

The Advocate reports:
Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church because of antigay comments made during a televised debate last week.

According to the Helsinki Times, “The number leaving increased sharply on 12 October following the broadcast of a debate programme focused on gay rights on Network 2 of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). By Monday 18 October, more than 24,000 people had left Finland’s Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthodox Churches.”

More than 5,000 people left the state church on Monday alone, likely a record for departures in a single day. Increasing numbers of middle-aged adults and women have joined the exodus.
More

Sunday, October 24, 2010

TEXAS: Inclusion conference held in Houston

By Katie Sherrod, October 12, 2010
[Episcopal News Service] The "Moving Forward, Exploring a New Path to Full Inclusion" conference at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas was meant to change the way people in the diocese approached consideration of the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the life of the church.
Organizers pointed out that the Episcopal Church has been talking about the issue since 1964. This conversation has happened at General Conventions, at House of Bishops meetings, and, more rarely, in individual dioceses and parishes.

"We wanted to find a way to help [the Diocese of] Texas have those conversations and to contribute to the national conversation, but in a way that tries to engage those who disagree and does not drive them away," said the Very Rev. Joe Reynolds, dean of Christ Church Cathedral.

"We realized after General Convention 2009 that what we were doing in the Diocese of Texas around the issue of inclusion was not working," said Laurie Eiserloh of Austin. "We had to try something different."

So on October 2, 2010, the parish hall of Christ Church Cathedral was filled almost to capacity with people eager to learn how to talk with one another across the divide of their differences on the issue of human sexuality.

Eiserloh and Reynolds are two of several conference organizers, a self-described "group of Texas Episcopalians who favor the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in the life and ministry of The Episcopal Church."

Eiserloh said they were encouraged by a resolution passed at the February 2010 Diocesan Council meeting that said, in part, "the 161st Council of the Diocese of Texas . . . claims unity in the midst of our diversity and . .. that all sorts and conditions of humanity, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, nationality, or sexual orientation, and especially all of God's children entrusted to our care, are loved beyond measure by God in Christ, are welcomed and valued in our institutions, mission, ministries, and parishes, and are a blessing to our collective life as we engage together in mission and ministry."

The council also resolved that "all people in our communities and their relationships [should] receive the pastoral care, time, attention, and honor they are due as God is revealed in and through them and as God works to change us all into a holy people."

Dean Reynolds presided at the opening Eucharist on the night of Oct. 1. Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies, preached about the hard work of living in community and of the dangers of trying to live without community and of letting fear separate one from another.

"There is God. . . mixing us up together in a holy mess of people who we would never in all our lives choose for ourselves. . . putting us into impossible situations, with impossible people and asking us to do impossible things and then giving us the impossibly amazing gifts to do these impossible things," she said.

The next morning, Anderson and Sally Johnson, Anderson's chancellor, presented the history of the Episcopal Church, its polity, its canons and constitution, and its relationship to the Anglican Communion. They also discussed the 45-year-long movement toward full inclusion of LGBT people that covered all the various statements, studies, resolutions, and calls for dialogue.

The Rev. Lisa Hunt, rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Houston, presented three articles as examples of conservative viewpoints on how the church might move forward despite its difference on human sexuality. They included one from James A. Baker III, former U.S. Secretary of State and a member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, and one by St. Martin's rector, the Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., both published in the Spring 2010 edition of Virginia Theological Seminary's News From the Hill; and one by Bishop Edward S. Little II of Northern Indiana published in The Living Church in September 2009.

During a panel on "inclusion conversations that work," the Rev. John Bedingfield of St. John's Episcopal Church, Silsbee, in rural East Texas told of the experience he and the rector had when they decided to carry on their personal conversations about full inclusion in front of the parish and anyone else who wanted to come listen. What began with literal fear and trembling ended with the realization that people are longing for such modeling of civil conversations, he said.

"You have to move beyond fear, and you have to make space for the Holy Spirit," he said.

Anne Brown, director of communications for the Diocese of Vermont, said one key to the success of conversations in Vermont was in shifting from the focus on sex to a focus on the love manifested in the relationship.

Seattle-based Jason Sierra from the Young Adult and Campus Ministries of the Episcopal Church talked about the ways different generations approach the idea of inclusion. For conversations about inclusion to work, "they must be multi-generational, they must be narrative and they must be now," he said. "We can't afford any more suicides of young people."

Finally, Tamika Caston, an educator and spiritual director in Houston, told of her and her partner's work at continuing a conversation with their respective families about their relationship, one made more interesting by the fact that Caston is African American and her partner is white.

The conference also considered the work done for the House of Bishops' Theology Committee to write "Same Sex Relationships in the Life of the Church" and the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music's work on collecting and developing theological and liturgical resources for the blessing of same-sex relationships for consideration at General Convention in 2012 as called for in Resolution C056 from the 2009 meeting of convention.

Many of those attending were from parishes or organizations calling themselves Conversation Partners. James Cowan of Houston, another of the organizers, said that while some Conversation Partners groups have among their members those who agree and disagree on the issue of full inclusion of LGBT people, nevertheless "they support heartfelt and respectful conversation. Our diocese is hungry for meaningful dialogue about how to make our church fully inclusive of lesbians and gay men who are committed Christians while maintaining unity with our brothers and sisters who are struggling to reconcile traditional views on sex and marriage."

-- Katie Sherrod is an independent writer and producer, director of communications for the Diocese of Fort Worth and a member of the church's Executive Council.

Anglican Head: U.S. Gay Ordination Set Us Back

"I feel that we may yet have to face the possibility of deeper divisions," Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams told The Hindu newspaper in an interview, released Wednesday.

The comment was made after he pointed out the complications posed by the recent ordination of a partnered lesbian in Los Angeles.

Though Anglican leaders were making progress in dialogue over the past couple of years, he said, "The decision of the American Church to go forward, as it has, with the ordination of a lesbian bishop has, I think, set us back."

MORE

Tammerlin Drummond: An incredible journey of a woman living her faith

THERE ARE people who give religion a bad name. The ones who spout pious platitudes, yet their hearts are hard as granite.

Then there are those like Mary Chew. Chew is a true Christian.

The Oakland native's extraordinary story begins in 1990. Fresh out of college, she volunteered to travel to Haiti as part of a church mission to work at an orphanage called Christian Haitian Outreach.

The founder was doing the best she could with few resources. The orphans were far better off than the children starving and ragged in the streets. But the deprivation still broke Chew's heart. MORE @ Contra Costa Times

Personal Stories: Craig Chapman

From The Ventura County Star:

The question that flipped the Rev. Craig Chapman’s life was fired by a parishioner at the Episcopal church he led in Trenton, Mich.

“Are you gay?”

... Within six months [of answering yes], he was kicked out of the parish and in divorce proceedings with his wife. Later, he was temporarily barred from seeing his children. He landed in California and a year after that started an Anglican church, All Saints Parish, for gay, lesbian and straight people.

He’s still there in a rented space on Ventura’s Main Street, leading Sunday services for a congregation of about 50 people. Jewish and Buddhist communities share the space, holding their own services for gay and lesbian people and others.

“When I stand in the pulpit and preach about love and honesty, I can do it honestly,” said Chapman of messages he also once delivered to the parish in Michigan. “I always felt like I was lying to them.”


Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/oct/23/it-gets-better-craig-chapman/#ixzz13EyiXxaK
- vcstar.com

Credo: Otis Charles

Otis Charles is a retired priest who in 1993 became the first openly gay bishop of any Christian denomination. The San Francisco resident co-founded the California branch of the Oasis Commission, a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the LGBT community. He married Felipe Sanchez Paris in 2008.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/lifestyle/Credo-Otis-Charles-105616878.html#ixzz13JPsgrk2

Covenant for the CofE would simply be to accept a new overlordship while continuing to pretend it is superior to it

Paul Bagshaw who compares this issue to that of the Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure 1974. The article is titled And always keep a-hold of Nurse …. He concludes:

So to adopt the Covenant for the CofE would simply be to accept a new overlordship while continuing to pretend it is superior to it. It will make sure its officers are embedded in the operation of the Covenant so that nothing potentially embarrassing comes to the light of public debate. And thus it will ensure it still doesn’t have to think about its ecclesiology - what principles - actually and ideally - underlie, predispose and can be used to judge the words, structures and action of the Church of England?


The fear of being gay and Ugandan

It was at his insistence that I made my Gay Uganda blog as anonymous as possible. His was always the voice of caution: wait, don't do that, don't expose yourself, remember that it is no longer you alone.

And, he was correct. I did heed his voice. Because, for a gay Ugandan, life is not safe. Being known to be gay is tough. It is a life of reckless fear, not courage. We do what we do, not because we can, but because there is no other option. From the very first inkling of our sexuality, we learn to hide. And we do hide.

In fact, we gay Ugandans hide so well, and are gracefully camouflaged, that fellow Ugandans frequently ask themselves who the "evil gays" are. Of course, we are their kin. But they don't believe their brothers, sisters, cousins, relatives can be the "evil gays".

In the beginning, I think it was the religious questions that led to my activism. I was baptised into an Anglican family. While in high school, round about the time that I realised my sexuality, I became an evangelical Christian.

But being gay in Uganda and Christian is a real challenge. Ugandans are highly religious and, coming out to myself later, I knew I couldn't reconcile my faith and sexuality. I decided to repudiate faith. But then I went further and became angry at the faith as shown in Uganda. And why not?

See The fear of being gay and Ugandan
The Guardian -

Giles Fraser: The three options for diversity

Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, writes in the Church Times:

The way I see it, there are three options: (1) Frau Merkel’s nostalgia for some monoculture where we all look and sound the same; (2) my commitment to diversity, which may entail a limited retreat from the language of the common good; and (3) Professor Hauerwas’s view that we can have both diversity and vibrant public morality, if we accept that the latter comes with boisterous dis­agree­ment.

I would love no. 3 above to be possible. I, too, love a good scrap, and sometimes we ought to be having more scraps about public morality. But, deep in Muslim Whitechapel, a scrap about the common good looks too close to real fighting to me. Agon­istic pluralism is all very well in the university (I know: it’s a cheap shot), but it is dangerous in a genuinely diverse society.

AIDS Mass a barometer of medical, societal changes

When the Episcopal Diocese of L.A. first offered the service in 1985, the names of many claimed by the disease were recited. Today the focus is less on grieving the dead and more on helping the living.

Canon Jack Plimpton, executive director of AIDS ministries for the diocese, said the yearly Masses were empowering for the gay community. "You may not be accepted by your fellow kind," he said, "but you know that you will be accepted by God."

More than anything, though, the church gave those touched by the disease an opportunity to mourn, said Canon Randolph Kimmler, who serves as an advisor in the diocese to those joining the clergy. A swath of gay men seemingly vanished, dying sometimes within weeks of the onset of symptoms. And families would often bar partners and gay friends from funerals, if they even had a service at all, in an effort to cloak the shame of having a relative die of what was known as a "gay disease," he said.

"A lot of churches wouldn't hold funerals for AIDS patients…. It was looked upon as something you deserve — it was a really weird time," Kimmler, 62, said. "Those of us who went and organized it felt courageous. We felt the church was courageous."

As the years passed, though, attendance at the service dwindled. One year, only three people came, and organizers questioned whether to continue the Mass. The scientific advances that meant AIDS was no longer a death sentence, as well better cultural understanding, were blessings, but also made things more challenging for those trying to raise AIDS awareness, the organizers said.
MORE

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Restoring holy order: Is the King James Bible the only version we should celebrate?

It is a cornerstone of Western literature and culture. But as the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible approaches, the authors of two new studies argue that its significance may have been overstated.

By Susan Elkin in the Independent

What the Pope's visit changed in the UK

A month on from Pope Benedict's welcome to Britain, Christopher Howse weighs the effect in the UK's Telegraph:

A turning-point was the address to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. It wasn't just that his audience applauded him after his speech as he walked through the historic building. This was remarkable enough, given the historic roots of a part of parliamentarianism in the rejection of popery. But the friendly gesture was not the distinguishing note of the occasion – after all, the Queen herself, welcoming him to Scotland had spoken of being "united in conviction" with him about the freedom to worship being "at the core of our tolerant and democratic society".

No, the decisive moment at Westminster Hall was when the Pope denied for the Church the role of supplying "the objective norms governing right action", let alone proposing "concrete political solutions". The latter point should have been clear, since Catholics sit with conviction on both sides of the House of Commons. But it might have been thought that the Church ought to supply the moral underpinning.

Christian and Jewish clergy voice support for gay-marriage ruling

A dozen Christian and Jewish clergy offered support Wednesday for a U.S. District Court ruling in August that found California’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The case is now before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

At a Los Angeles news conference, the group said it planned to file an amicus brief in support of Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision to strike down Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative that banned gay marriage. The judge said the measure violated due process and equal protection for gays and lesbians.

Representatives from the Los Angeles Episcopal diocese, the United Church of Christ, the Progressive Jewish Alliance and other liberal religious groups spoke of marriage equality as part of religious freedom Wednesday in the gathering at the St. Paul Cathedral Center, the Episcopal diocese headquarters.

“It is not an issue of legal matters, it’s an issue of faith,” said the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, the Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles.

MORE

African American Gay Youth and Their Parents: Coping with Double Stigma Psychology Today (blog

Despite improvements in race relations in this county during the past 50 years, including the election of a black president, race still matters and it plays a role in how families respond to the news that a son or daughter is gay or lesbian. Compared to whites, African Americans suffer disproportionately higher rates of poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and stress-related illnesses, and are also more likely to contract HIV. Although there is heated debate about the causes of these disparities, many experts believe that the wounds of racism play a significant role.

However, a documented strength of African American families is their close kinship ties that provide safe harbor from the racist seas of the dominant culture. Loving, strong families can buffer the impacts of oppression on its members. In addition, families are the first places where children learn ways to cope and thrive in spite of prejudice and discrimination. So for gay and lesbian youth who are black, the thought of losing this vital resource is particularly devastating.

In the study described in the book: Coming Out, Coming Home: Helping Families Adjust to a Gay or Lesbian Child (www.comingoutcominghome.com), the experiences of white and black families were often similar. When they realized they were gay, African American youth, like their white counterparts distanced themselves from their parents for self-protection and to avoid conflict. Both white and African American parents felt guilty when they first learned their children were gay. Furthermore, as time passed many black and white families experienced improvements in their family relationships, fueled by mutually reinforcing parent-child interactions.

However, black parents were less likely than their white counterparts to report that they mourned the loss of a normal life for their children when they initially learned they were gay. MORE


Survey: Less than 1-in-5 Give America’s Places of Worship High Marks on Handling Issue of Homosexuality



Two-thirds see connections between messages coming from America’s places of worship and higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Regardless of their own religious views on the issue, few Americans believe that places of worship are doing a good job handling the issue of homosexuality. The PRRI/RNS Religion News Poll, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, found that more than 4-in-10 Americans gave religious organizations a “D” (18%) or an “F” (24%). The number of Americans giving places of worship low marks is more than twice as many as give them high marks; Only 5% of Americans give them an “A,” and only 11% give them a “B.”

A plurality (43%) of Americans say the messages coming from places of worship are negative, and 4-in-10 Americans believe that these messages contribute “a lot” to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people. One-third (33%) of the public also believe that messages from religious bodies are contributing “a lot” to higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth, and another third (32%) say these message contribute “a little;” only 21% say they do not contribute at all.

“The survey shows that a significant number of Americans are aware of and concerned about the negative impact of messages about homosexuality from places of worship, particularly with regard to gay and lesbian youth,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. “Notably, despite the negative evaluations of places of worship in general, Americans are more likely to give their own places of worship high marks; nearly half of Americans give their own place of worship either an “A” (28%) or a “B” (17%) on their handling of this issue.”

Of all religious groups, white evangelicals are most likely to give their own church high marks for handling the issue of homosexuality. Three-quarters of white evangelicals give their church an “A” (48%) or “B” (27%). Among white mainline Protestants and Catholics, only about 4-in-10 give their church an “A” or “B.” Catholics were most likely to give their churches negative marks, with nearly one-third giving their churches a “D” (15%) or an “F” (16%).

The survey also found significant generational and partisan gaps on perceptions of the impact of messages about homosexuality from America’s places of worship. Nearly half (47%) of young adults (age 18 to 34) say that messages from places of worship are contributing “a lot” to negative views of gay and lesbian people. Among Americans age 65 and older, less than one-third (30%) say religious bodies are contributing a lot to negative perceptions of gay and lesbian people. Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans (42% to 17%) to say places of worship are contributing to higher rates of suicide among gay youth.

“A majority of Americans agree that messages coming from places of worship about the issue of homosexuality are not positive,” said Daniel Cox, Director of Research for Public Religion Research Institute. “Americans are six times more likely to say that messages coming from places of worship are negative as they are to say that they are positive.

Americans across religious traditions are more likely to say that messages coming from places of worship are generally negative than generally positive. Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated are most likely to say that messages are negative (47% and 65% respectively).

The PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey is conducted monthly by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service. Results from the survey were based on telephone interviews conducted during October 14-17, 2010, among a national probability sample of 1,010 adults.

Public Religion Research Institute is a non-profit, nonpartisan research and education organization specializing in work at the intersection of religion, values and public life.

Gay Teen Suicides Pervasive, A 'Hidden Problem': Expert

A recent rash of suicides among gay youth has captured the attention of the nation, with President Obama releasing a video Thursday aimed at reaching gay teens threatened by bullying.

Among the deaths most heavily reported by the media was that of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University student whose intimate interactions with another man were broadcast over the internet.

While Clementi's death is heartbreaking, and the details surrounding it particularly vivid, some experts say the bigger story is that hundreds of suicides go unreported or underreported every year.

"While it's great to have this topic in the news, unfortunately this isn't news. This is an issue that has been going on for a long time," said Leigh Powers, head of Information Services at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. MORE

The most recent data from The American Association of Suicidology shows that there are more than 1,000 suicides on college campuses ever year. In 2007, more than 4,000 young people aged 15 to 24 killed themselves.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Anti-gay violence in Uganda continues

Uganda's Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Butoro says that stories of persecution of gays and lesbians in his country are lies. He also expects the infamous "kill-the-gays" bill to pass Uganda's legislature "in due course."

A tabloid newspaper called "The Rolling Stone" (not related to the US publication) has ceased publication, not because it printed a list a people they said were gay or lesbian under the banner "Hang Them High" but because the publishers did not secure the proper permits. As soon as it get those permits, the presses will roll again. MORE

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Summary of the 161st Convention of the Diocese of California

The 161st Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of California came to a close shortly after 5 p. ... Read more

Bishop Marc Andrus urges "No" on Proposition 23

In 2006 the California Assembly passed landmark legislation (AB 32) to curb greenhouse emissions—a model which has been followed by 16 other states around the country. ... Read more

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Commission on liturgy hears calls for equality for same-sex couples

"Whatever we do, whatever we offer our people, let it be eloquent, let it be truthful, let it be prayer and let it be common because those are the things which are the strengths of our church" Commission on liturgy hears calls for equality for same-sex couples

A Peek into Archbishop William's Mind

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has given a lengthy interview to The Hindu that offers a glimpse into his thinking on LGBT issues and the place of the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion. See the article at: Dialogue for me is recognition of the serious: Rowan Williams.

In that interview the reporter asks:

After years of debate and threatened schism in the Communion, the Church has taken a decisive and progressive step towards appointing women as bishops, with a final Synod vote due in 2012. How do you see the way forward?

And Williams answers:

I think it’s well-known that in the Church of England there is a very significant minority of people who believe that the Church of England and the Anglican Churches generally should not take a large step like ordaining women bishops without more consultation with, or sensitivity to, the other great Churches – the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

That's news to many of us - we thought the main issue was whether scripture and tradition would permit women to serve as bishops. It seems that for this Archbishop, the overriding concern is neither scripture nor tradition but rather what will Rome say. You might have thought that the current Pope's plan to poach conservative members of the Church of England would, by now, have answered that question.

In terms of the place of The US Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion, the reporter asked:

In your February 2010 address to the General Synod, you warned that infighting over women bishops and gay priests could split the Communion. You even conceded that, unless Anglicans find a way to live with their differences, the Church would change shape and become a multi-tier Communion of different levels – a schism in all but name. Which way are things heading on these two fronts?

And this Archbishop answered:

I think I’ll be able to be clearer about that after the next primates’ meeting. But at the moment I couldn’t say I felt completely optimistic about that. I feel that we may yet have to face the possibility of deeper divisions. I don’t at all like, or want to encourage, the idea of a multi-tier organisation. But that would, in my mind, be preferable to complete chaos and fragmentation. It’s about agreeing what we could do together.

So he's still worried about what other churches will do and is willing to propose second class status on the US Church. At least now we know where his priorities stand.

Court gets Episcopal case on Valley properties

A key phase begins today in the court battle between the U.S. Episcopal Church and the breakaway Diocese of San Joaquin over who owns the Valley churches' properties.
After a Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled last year that the national Episcopal Church is the rightful owner of the church buildings and other assets, the diocese appealed. A hearing before the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno is scheduled for 10 a.m. today. The judges are expected to make a ruling in about a month.
The issue ultimately will be resolved by a jury. But if the diocese loses its appeal, the jury will not be allowed to hear the argument that the diocese and not the national church has ultimate authority over church property.


Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/10/19/2124731/court-gets-episcopal-case-on-valley.html#ixzz12vHeAkrx

Battle over diocese goes on Episcopalians face off against Anglicans in appellate court today

Who is the legitimate bishop in the San Joaquin Diocese, and who owns the diocese's property, including its headquarters in Fresno and parishes from Stockton to Bakersfield?
Those questions are at the heart of the next round in the legal battle between local Episcopalians and Anglicans. The two groups face off today in the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno.
The justices will hear oral arguments in the lawsuit, filed by Bishop Jerry Lamb against Bishop John-David Schofield. ..

Case history Here is a summary of the history of the case and the arguments before the court:

• In December 2007, 90 per- cent of the lay and clergy representatives to the diocese's annual convention voted to leave the Episcopal Church and amend its constitution. Schofield became a bishop under the temporary oversight of a South American archbishop in the Anglican Communion, and the 40 parishes supporting him became known as the Anglican San Joa- quin Diocese.

• In 2008, representatives from the remaining seven parishes, including Christ the King in Riverbank, and other individuals who wished to remain with the Episcopal Church voted to install Jerry Lamb as their bishop. Lamb later sued Schofield, demanding the return of all diocesan properties, including its headquarters in Fresno and other assets, such as the diocese's investment funds.

• That lawsuit in a Fresno Superior Court received an initial ruling by the judge in July 2009 against Schofield, declaring Lamb to be the Episcopal bishop and rightful owner of the diocesan properties. No matter which way the appellate court rules, the case will return to the lower court, as the case has not yet been decided by a jury. • According to written arguments filed by attorneys for Lamb, the Episcopal Church's stance is that it is hierarchical, with three levels — the parishes and missions, the dioceses, and the national church — and thus, the diocese's 2007 vote to leave the national church was not valid. Further, the documents state, "The diocesan conventions adopt constitutions and canons that supplement, but may not conflict with, the (Episcopal) church's constitution and canons (which are) binding on all Episcopal dioceses and parishes." Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/10/19/1390956/battle-over-diocese-goes-on.html#ixzz12vH6qdEk Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2010/10/19/1390956/battle-over-diocese-goes-on.html#ixzz12vGZqo5t

Amnesty for Same-Sex Couples?

"Liberal Democratic Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced their "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act" on September 29. Of course its centerpiece is a "pathway" to citizenship for the "undocumented," which critics would call amnesty for illegals. It also includes a "Uniting American Families Act" (UAFA) allowing "permanent partners" of U.S. citizens, which seems to mean same-sex couples, to obtain U.S. residency....Episcopal News Service also highlighted a Chicago Episcopal priest with an immigrant same sex partner similarly on a student visa. "I believe we [gays and lesbians] will be sacrificed in the negotiations," the priest complained about the likely outcome of any final immigration legislation. "How can the majority legislate the rights for a minority? It's not fair. It's not just. I love this country… but it's discouraging."

Naturally, the Episcopal Church has an official policy statement demanding "immigration equality" for same-sex partners, ratified at the denomination's General Convention last year. That resolution denounced as an "outrageous injustice" the lack of recognition by federal immigration law for same-sex couples, when "similarly situated heterosexual immigrants are free to marry at any time." Presciently, the Episcopalians even specifically endorsed the Uniting American Families Act, of which the Leahy/Menendez legislation is the latest incarnation. "By supporting this civil rights legislation, the Episcopal Church can add a Christian voice to those demanding that all citizens be treated equally under U.S. immigration laws," the Episcopal resolution insisted."

Amnesty for Same-Sex Couples?

Maggie Gallagher of NOM: Gays abusing gays leads to suicide, not her attacks on gay marriage

Maggie Gallagher, president of the extremely anti-gay National Organization for Marriage. Here she writes another defensive opinion piece. She insinuates that no matter what she says or how often she preaches negative things about gay people and marriage, gay children will kill themselves at the same rate. Homophobia, she seems to say, is not the source of gay teen suicide.

Maggie Gallagher of NOM: Gays abusing gays leads to suicide, not her attacks ...

Metro Weekly

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

SE Rally links rejection to LGBT suicides

A coalition of LGBT advocacy organizations organized a candlelight vigil in San Francisco on Friday to draw attention to a recent wave of suicides, hate crimes, and incendiary homophobic rhetoric. (read more)

Ugandan tabloid publishes list of 100 'Top Homos," Calls for Their Hanging

Gawker reports "The Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to Jann Wenner) has outed one hundred gay (or presumed gay) Ugandans, inciting violence against several and sending many more into hiding. The rag's editor said the list was "in the public's interest."

"In the days since it was published, at least four gay Ugandans on the list have been attacked and many others are in hiding, according to rights activist Julian Onziema. One person named in the story had stones thrown at his house by neighbors."

Retired Ugandan Anglican Bishop Christopher Senyonjo is on the list. Please pray for Bishop Christopher, who has been a guest of Oasis many times as we raised support for his work with Integrity Uganda.

Tell Your Story

Carl Paladino, Tea Party favorite and GOP candidate for governor of New York, recently said children should not be "brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is acceptable." The "apology" he came up with, a long 24 hours later, was insincere and completely forced.
These comments are especially dangerous in the wake of the shocking number of LGBT youth taunted and harassed into suicide in the past few months alone:
  • Asher Brown, a 13-year-old middle school student in Houston, fatally shot himself after years of constant bullying over his sexual identity.
  • Billy Lucas was just 15 years old when he, reportedly after prolonged bullying at school because of his perceived sexual orientation, took his own life.
  • Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old Rutgers freshman, committed suicide after his roommate broadcast live on the Internet — without Tyler’s knowledge — hidden camera video of Tyler having a sexual encounter with another man in his dorm room.
Many of us know this feeling and this isolation…. if you or someone you love has been bullied, threatened or harassed due to real or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation, tell us your story by clicking here. When we share our experiences, we can learn from each other, support each other and strengthen our community.
The likes of Carl Paladino, Rush Limbaugh, Tony Perkins and Glenn Beck might think children — and adults — don't need to hear a message of tolerance and compassion, but the recent wave of LGBT youth suicides says otherwise.
According to our report on homeless LGBT youth, up to 40 percent of this country's estimated 1.6 million homeless youth identify as LGBT. Many of them are on the streets because their homes, families and schools are not safe places for them to be who they are. Our youth are harassed and bullied not only by their peers but by their families — the very people who should be sticking up for them with school officials who refuse to act. As horrible, LGBT and questioning youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, according to the Massachusetts 2006 Youth Risk Survey.
All students deserve to feel safe in school, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, real or perceived.
No one should suffer bullying and harassment alone and in the shadows.
Please tell us your story today.
Sincerely,

Rea Carey, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Monday, October 18, 2010

After teen suicides, gay opponents look inward

""Christians have got to stop talking about people struggling with sexual issues as a tribe apart,"said the Rev. R. Albert Mohler.

In the wake of a spate of gay youths who were bullied -- and some who took their own lives -- Mohler and some other vocal opponents of homosexuality are taking new steps of introspection.

While defending traditional Christian teaching against homosexuality, they say divisive and condemnatory rhetoric needs to be replaced with actually getting to know a gay neighbor or classmate.

Some have gone even further. Exodus International, a leading "ex-gay" group, pulled its sponsorship of the annual "Day of Truth," which encourages students to express their disapproval of homosexuality."

More here. Too little to late or a good start? Tell us what you think by posting a comment.

Church must push for inclusiveness, Episcopal bishop says

The Episcopal Church must open its doors to become more inclusive and find ways to make itself relevant beyond Sunday mornings, its presiding bishop said Friday as she prepared to take part in the Diocese of Milwaukee's annual convention.

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, chief pastor of the world's 2.4 million Episcopalians, downplayed the schism that has rocked the church over its liberal views on homosexuality and gay clergy, and emphasized the importance of mission and ministry both at home and abroad.

"We need to speak the good news where people can hear it," said Jefferts Schori, who planned to visit some of the local diocese's poverty ministries - The Gathering meal program, the Red Door clothing ministry and an indigent burial program - during her stay.

"One of my jobs is to tell the story of the good works being done here," she said in brief remarks to local media at the diocese's All Saints Cathedral downtown. More of Church must push for inclusiveness, Episcopal bishop says
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -

CLERGY AGAINST BULLYING CALL FOR ACTION AND TIME OF HEALING IN WAKE OF GAY TEEN SUICIDES AND ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE

Today, as leaders of Christian communions and national networks, we speak with heavy hearts because of the bullying, suicides and hate crimes that have shocked this country and called all faith communities into accountability for our words or our silence. We speak with hopeful hearts, believing that change and healing are possible, and call on our colleagues in the Church Universal to join us in working to end the violence and hatred against our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters.

In the past seven weeks, six young and promising teenagers took their own lives. Some were just entering high school; one had just enrolled in college. Five were boys; one, a girl becoming a young woman. These are only the deaths for which there has been a public accounting. New reports of other suicides continue to haunt us daily from around the country.

They were of varying faiths and races and came from different regions of the nation.

The one thing these young men and women had in common was that they were perceived to be gay or lesbian.

Each in their own way faced bullying and harassment or struggled with messages of religion and culture that made them fear the consequences of being who they were.

In the past two weeks, cities like New York have seen major escalations in anti-gay violence. Two young men attacked patrons of the Stonewall Inn, legendary birth place of the LGBT rights movement in the United States, locking them in the restroom and beating them while hurling anti-gay epithets. Men on a Chelsea street, saying goodnight after an evening out, were attacked by a group of teens and young adults, again hurling anti-gay slogans and hurting one person badly enough to require emergency treatment. And nine young men in the Bronx went on a two-day rampage beating, burning, torturing and sodomizing two teenage boys and their gay male adult friend for allegedly having a sexual relationship. "It's nothing personal," one of the now arrested said. "You just broke the rules."
What are the "rules" of human engagement and interaction that we, as people of faith, want to teach our congregants, children and adults alike, to live by?

Many have responded from within and beyond the faith community offering comfort and support to the families and friends of Billy Lucas, Seth Walsh, Asher Brown, Tyler Clementi, Raymond Chase and Aiyisha Hasan. Our hearts, too, are broken by the too soon losses of these young and promising lives, and we join our voices to those who have sought to speak words of comfort and healing.

Many others, however, have responded by adding insult to injury, citing social myths and long-held prejudices that only fuel division, hatred and violence – and sometimes even death.

We, as leaders of faith, write today to say we must hold ourselves accountable, and we must hold our colleagues in the ministry, accountable for the times, whether by our silence or our proclamations, our inaction or our action, we have fueled the kinds of beliefs that make it possible for people to justify violence in the name of faith. Condemning and judging people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity can have deadly consequences, both for the victims of hate crimes and those who commit them.

There is no excuse for inspiring or condoning violence against any of our human family. We may not all agree on what the Bible says or doesn't say about sexuality, including homosexuality, but this we do agree on: The Bible says, "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God in them." Abiding in love – together – is the rule we must all preach, teach, and seek to live by.

People of faith must realize that if teens feel they will be judged by their church, rejected by their families and bullied by their peers, they may have nowhere to turn.

Too many things go unspoken in our communities. It's time to talk openly and honestly about the diversity of God's creation and the gift of various sexual orientations and gender identities – and to do that in a way that makes it safe for people to disagree and still abide in love.

It's time to talk openly and honestly about the use and misuse of power and authority by those we entrust with our spiritual well-being. It's time to make it safe for our clergy colleagues who are struggling to live what they preach, to get the help and support we all sometimes need.

The young people who took their lives a few weeks ago died because the voices of people who believe in the love of God for all the people of God were faint and few in the face of those who did the bullying, harassing and condemning. Today we write to say we will never again be silent about the value of each and every life.

To that end, we pledge to urge our churches, our individual parishes or offices, our schools and religious establishments to create safe space for each and every child of God, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. And we ask you to join us in that pledge.

Today, we personally pledge to be LGBT and straight people of faith standing together for the shared values of decency and civility, compassion and care in all interactions. We ask you, our colleagues, to join us in this pledge.

We want our children and the children of the communities we serve to grow up knowing that God loves all of us and that without exception, bullying and harassment, making fun of someone for perceived differences, and taunting and harming others is wrong. The Golden Rule is still the rule we want to live by.

We pray today that you will join us in being the faces of a faith that preaches and demonstrates God's universal acceptance and offers to one and all safe space to live, to learn, and to love and be loved.

In faith and solidarity,

HEADS OF COMMUNIONS
The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches
The Rev. Geoffrey Black, United Church of Christ General Minister and President
Elder Cynthia J. Bolbach, Moderator, 219th General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church
The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, 219th General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator, 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America
The Rev. Peter Morales, President, Unitarian Universalist Association
Bishop Yvette Flunder, Presiding Bishop of The Fellowship
The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches
Bishop Tonyia M. Rawls, Vice President of the National Board and Regional Prelate, Unity Fellowship Church
Archbishop Carl Bean, Founder and Presiding Prelate, Unity Fellowship Church Movement
Carol Blythe, Alliance of Baptists President
Paula Clayton Dempsey, Minister for Partnership Relations, Alliance of Baptists

NATIONAL FAITH STAFF OF LGBT ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS
The Rev. Harry Knox, Director of Religion and Faith Program, Human Rights Campaign Foundation
The Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, Director of Institute for Welcoming Resources, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
Dr. Sylvia Rhue, Director of Religious Affairs, National Black Justice Coalition
Ann Craig, Director of Religion, Faith and Values, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

NATIONAL STAFF OF FAITH BASED ORGANIZATIONS
The Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer, Executive Director of UCAN, Inc., United Church of Christ
The Rev. Robert Chase, Founding Director, Intersections International
Macky Alston, Director, Auburn Media, Auburn Theological Seminary
The Rev. Mark Hostetter, Chair of the Board, Auburn Seminary
Sung Park, Program Director, Believe Out Loud
The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance
The Reverend Debra W. Haffner, Executive Director, Religious Institute
Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, Executive Coordinator, National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN)
The Rev. Neal Christie, Assistant General Secretary of the United Methodist Board of Church & Society
The Rev. Cynthia Abrams , Program Director, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church ,
Linda Bales Todd, Director, General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
The Rev. Dr. Cindi Love, Executive Director, Soulforce, Inc.

NATIONAL STAFF OF LGBT DENONMINATIONAL GROUPS
Emily Eastwood, Executive Director, Lutherans Concerned/North America
Lisa Larges, Minister Coordinator, That All May Freely Serve, Presbyterian
Dr. Michael Adee, Executive Director, More Light Presbyterians
Troy Plummer, Reconciling Ministries Network, United Methodist
Marilyn Paarlberg, National Coordinator, Room for All, Reformed Church in America
Rev. Thomas C. Goodhart, Co-president, Room for All, Reformed Church in America
Phil Attey, Acting Executive Director - Catholics for Equality
George W. Cole, Senior Vice President, Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons
David Melson, President, Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons
Dr. Joseph Palacios, Board Member, Catholics for Equality
Phil Attey, Executive Director, Catholics for Equality
Yolanda Elliott, President, Seventh-day Adventist Kinship International
Pastor Dave Ferguson, Church Relations Director, Adventist Kinship International
Rev. Marvin M. Ellison, Ph.D., Co-Convener, Religious Coalition Against Discrimination, Maine
Anne Underwood, Catholics for Equality
Max Niedzwiecki, Ph.D., Executive Director, Integrity USA

THEOLOGICANS AND ACADEMIC LEADERS
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University.
Mary E. Hunt & Diana Neu, Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER)