Scotland will be first country in UK to legalize gay marriage

Scotland announced on July 25 it will allow same-sex weddings as early as 2015, becoming the first country in the United Kingdom to do so.

“We are committed to a Scotland that is fair and equal, and that is why we intend to proceed with plans to allow same sex marriage and religious ceremonies for civil partnerships,” said Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who made the announcement.

The Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church were against the move, but gay-friendly Christian groups said they were “relieved” by the announcement.

The Rev. Fiona Bennett, minister of Augustine United Reform Church (Protestant) in Edinburgh, told ENInews: “We’re delighted. It’s been some time coming.” She described her church as an inclusive one, friendly to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual community in Scotland .

Sturgeon promised religious organizations that oppose homosexual weddings the Scottish Government will bring forward no legislation impinging on an individual’s freedom of speech or freedom to practice or preach religion.

“The Scottish Government,” she said, “will take all necessary steps to protect churches and individuals within those churches who do not wish to conduct same sex weddings if they do not agree with them.”

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church said: “The Scottish Government is embarking on a dangerous social experiment on a massive scale.”

The Rev. Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform (a conservative evangelical network within the Church of England), said in a texted statement: “God designed marriage to be the union of one man and one woman, reflecting the union of Christ as bridegroom and the Church his bride. God is not a person with whom even U.K. prime ministers can negotiate a more congenial set of commands.”

The announcement came as U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a meeting of prominent gay leaders at his London home, 10 Downing Street.

“I am absolutely determined that this coalition government will follow in that tradition by legalizing gay marriage in this Parliament,” he said.

“The prime minister’s sneering remarks show his own intolerance of religious people who disagree with him on gay marriage,” said Mike Judge of the Christian Institute. “It is incredibly arrogant of him to tell churches what religious beliefs they should and shouldn’t hold. No wonder huge swathes of churchgoers are suspicious of his motives.”

Did early Christianity betray Jesus?

Rowan Williams writes:

Religions that claim universally relevant and abidingly truthful revelations have a clear interest in showing that their history is one of continuity. If you believe that your vision of God and reality in general is in some sense a gift from outside the human psyche, it won't do to allow unlimited adjustments to that vision.

But all human language does adjust to historical change, even when trying to stay the same; as Cardinal Newman observed, to say the same thing as your ancestors said, you may well need to say something apparently very different. So how do you resolve the question of what is genuinely an "unfolding" of the original vision and what is an arbitrary elaboration that distorts that vision?

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Police protection prevents local official from shutting down Kampala religious conference on human sexuality, theological diversity and religious freedom

by Rev. Stephen Parelli

Executive Director, Other Sheep, www.othersheep.org

July 20, 2012

Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey

On Wednesday July 18, Bisexual Movement of Uganda conducted a one-day seminar at a public establishment in Muyenga, Kampala, on "Religious Freedom in the Context of Theological Diversity and Human Sexuality."Brian Ochieng, director of Bisexual Movement Uganda, reported that 190 people, including 36 university students, 80 plus high school students, local community people, and clergy, attended. 

Morning Session on 'Liberty of Conscience'

In the morning session, Rev. Stephen Parelli, Executive Director of Other Sheep, spoke on 'Liberty of Conscience,' a human rights' principle that teaches that in matters of faith and practice each individual's conscience is free to answer to God alone without the interference or molestation of the government.  Parelli said the anti-gay-marriage laws in America, and the Uganda anti-gay bill are, in effect, a denial of the free-exercise of the individual's 'liberty of conscience' in matters of what God has or has not said about homosexuality.

Parelli, referencing the Iowa Supreme Court April 3, 2009, decision for gay marriage, cited the court's statement that religion was the driving force behind the laws against gay marriage throughout America, and that, therefore, state governments, by legislating religious teachings, are acting unconstitutionally. Parelli said the Iowa Supreme Court upheld 'Liberty of Conscience.' 

Throughout the morning session, Parelli gave out complimentary copies of the book The Children Are Freeto attendees who answered correctly questions Parelli put forth on 'Liberty of Conscience.'  Parelli wove his personal story throughout the presentation, illustrating his theme, keeping the interest and connecting with his audience.  Four individuals from the audience volunteered to come to the platform and represent four different historical characters from the Reformation and British-American Colonial periods as Parelli related the historical development of 'Liberty of Conscience.'

Afternoon Session on Theological Diversity and Human Sexuality 

In the afternoon session, Parelli and Mr. Jose Ortiz, Other Sheep Coordinator for Africa, enacted a conversational dialogue on what the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality.  Brian Ochieng, who had attended the 2008 Other Sheep Kampala seminar, translated the Parelli-Ortiz enactment into Luganda with spirit, conviction and animation, himself familiar with the material being presented.  One hundred copies of the paper "Talking Points" on the Bible and homosexuality were made available to the attendees.

NGO/ Religious Leaders Comment 

Following the seminar, Eddy Kalayango, Executive Director of Rainbow and Diversity Organization Uganda (RADO) texted Rev. Parelli saying "thanks for your teachings and sharing this knowledge with us; I hope one day society will accept the LGBTI community in Uganda and respect its liberty of conscience" (used with permission).

Rev. Michael Kimindu, President of Other Sheep Africa, sent greetings to the attendees from Nairobi, Kenya, which Parelli relayed to the audience. 

Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo of Kampala expressed his support of the meeting in emails to Rev. Parelli.

Police Prevent Local Official from Stopping the Conference 

Following the morning session on 'Liberty of Conscience' the seminar was put on hold when a local official entered the grounds demanding that the police, already present by arrangement of the hosting NGO, immediately shut down the conference.  The local official maintained that homosexuality was being promoted illegally.  An attendee of the morning session had left the grounds to report his disapproval of the seminar to the local official.  Police protection had been arranged prior to the conference by the NGO organizers of the day-long seminar. 

Parelli, after finishing the morning session, was escorted by a police officer to an area on the grounds, a distant from the conference hall, where he was asked to remain while. at the same location, other police, the objecting local official, the offended attendee who reported to the objecting local official, and Brian Ochieng, discussed the matter.  Mr. Jose Ortiz accompanied Parelli.  Lively but controlled and subdued dialogued ensued between Brian, the police and the objecting local official.  Brian maintained that the conference was on the Bible and religious freedom, and not the promotion of homosexuality as a lifestyle.  Upon the arrival of another NGO leader who had assisted Bisexual Movement Uganda in obtaining the police protection, the matter was resolved and the conference continued without being aborted.  Police protection continued.  

Objecting Local Official, Addressing Attendees in the Conference Hall, Apologizes for Interruption

While attendees waited, seated in the conference hall, for the final preparations for lunch to be completed, the objecting local official asked to speak to the gathering. He spoke in Luganda.  According to one NGO leader who spoke with Mr. Ortiz, the objecting local official apologized for the interruption he caused and announced that the seminar would continue.  The room erupted into applause, Mr. Otiz reported.

In keeping with certain accepted practices as the norm, because the objecting local official was working on behalf of his community without compensation, after the police refused to cooperate with him, he requested Other Sheep to cover his cost of transportation for reporting his objections to the police.  Other Sheep, following the recommendation of NGO leaders, covered the traveling costs of the objecting local official.

190 Assisted with Meals and Transportation 

A light breakfast, substantial lunch and transport money was provided the 190 attendees. 

Other Sheep, a Worldwide Organization 

Other Sheep, situated in the USA, is a non-profit, faith-based organization with Coordinators in Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America.  Rev. Parelli works full time as a volunteer with Other Sheep.  Since 2005, Parelli and Ortiz, legally married in 2008 in the state of California, have spoken in 17 countries worldwide.  Other Sheep works worldwide for the full inclusion of LGBT people of faith within their respective faith traditions.

NGO leader Brian Ochieng on the Conference and the Uganda anti-gay Bill 

Brian Ochieng, commenting the day before the July 18 Kampala seminar was held said he is hoping people will see the Uganda anti-gay bill issue from a new perspective.

-----------------------------------------------------

Links to Parelli's papers: 100 copies of each of the following two papers were made available, free of charge, at the Kampala July 18 Conference:

On Liberty of Conscience with Application to Uganda

Talking Points - What the Bible does and does not say about homosexuality 

______________________

Note:  Other Sheep was in East Africa from July 3-19, 2012.  Two separate NGOs in Uganda each sponsored one Other Sheep seminar; one NGO in Rwanda sponsored one Other Sheep seminar.

The American Fertility Association Announces 'Family Building Options for Men with HIV'

Education outreach program to launch at International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC

NEW YORK, NY -- The American Fertility Association (The AFA) announced today the initiation of a program designed to reach men living with HIV who want to create a family. The good news is that these men, with proper treatment, can safely have biological children of their own.

The educational outreach program, funded by a generous grant from Growing Generations and International Fertility Law Group, will launch at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, running from Sunday the 22nd of July through Wednesday the 25th of July. The AFA will be staffing a booth that will feature a video with two reproductive endocrinologists and an HIV specialist further explaining the procedures. Information will also be available to all who visit the booth.

"Advances in both the treatment of HIV and in Assisted Reproductive Technology means that men living with HIV can father their own children with virtually no risk of HIV transmission to the female partner, surrogate, or embryo," said Ken Mosesian, Executive Director of The AFA.

Stuart Bell, Owner and CEO of Growing Generations, stated, "With over 5,000 known pregnancies worldwide, using assisted reproduction and the sperm from men living with HIV, there has never been a single incident of HIV transmission reported."

The AFA will be sending information to HIV specialists throughout the country, so they can make their patients aware of the family building options open to them. The AFA will also be exhibiting at the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) conference later this year, and additional conferences in 2013. For more detailed information, visit http://www.theafa.org/hiv.

The American Fertility Association (The AFA) is an inclusive organization committed to helping people create their families of choice by providing leading-edge outreach programs and timely educational information. The scope of our work encompasses reproductive and sexual health, infertility prevention and treatment, and family-building options including adoption and third party solutions. The AFA is a national, not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) charitable organization headquartered in New York City. http://www.theafa.org

Growing Generations is the largest surrogacy and egg donor agency in the United States and is committed to assisting all family types regardless of sexual orientation, marital status, or HIV status. In 2006, the company launched a program to provide services to people with HIV, allowing them for the first time to become biological parents through surrogacy. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, and the Ohio Valley, Growing Generations serves clients from over 30 countries around the world and has welcomed more than 1,000 babies.

International Fertility Law Group, Inc. ("IFLG") was founded by Will Halm and Richard Vaughn, attorneys who have specialized exclusively in assisted reproduction and family formation law for over a decade. Will and Rich and their partners became parents themselves by means of egg donation and surrogacy and know first-hand the joy that assisted reproduction can bring to a family. It was from a desire to help create other families -- all over the world -- that they founded IFLG, specializing in providing expert legal services throughout the United States in the areas of surrogacy, egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation, parental establishment, non-traditional family formation, co-parenting and second-parent adoption.

WALES: Review team offers radical vision for church

[Anglican Communion News Service] A radical new vision for the future of the Church in Wales is set out in a report launched July 20.

Supersize parishes run by teams of vicars and lay people, creative ideas for ensuring churches stay at the heart of their communities and investing further in ministry to young people are among the report’s recommendations following an independent root and branch review.

The Church in Wales commissioned the review a year ago to address some of its challenges and to ensure it was fit for purpose as it faced its centenary in 2020. Three experienced people in ministry and church management examined its structures and ministry and heard evidence from public meetings across Wales attended by more than 1,000 people.

On the review group were: Lord (Richard) Harries of Pentregarth, former Bishop of Oxford, who chaired it; Charles Handy, former professor of the London Business School; and Patricia Peattie, first chairwoman of the Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust and former chair of the Episcopal Church in Scotland’s Standing Committee.

Their report will now be presented to the Church’s governing body for consideration.

It makes 50 recommendations which include:

• Parishes replaced by much larger ‘ministry areas’ which would mirror the catchment areas of secondary schools, where possible, and be served by a team of clergy and lay people;
• Creative use of church buildings to enable them to be used by the whole community;
• Training lay people to play a greater part in church leadership;
• Investing more in ministry for young people;
• Developing new forms of worship to reach out to those unfamiliar with church services;
• Encouraging financial giving to the church through tithing.

Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan welcomed the report. He said, “We are enormously indebted to the Review Group because it has absorbed a great deal of information about us as a church in a short period of time and has made some very perceptive and insightful comments and recommendations. I am also grateful to members of the Church in Wales who in large numbers have enthusiastically engaged with the process. We, as a church, will have to give serious consideration to this report and its recommendations from parish up to province and decide where we go from here.”

Harries said, “The Review Team found the Church in Wales to be very warm and welcoming and there are many good things happening. But in order to serve the people of Wales effectively, particularly its young people, we believe some radical re-thinking is necessary.”

The full report is online here.

The review group held public meetings in all of the six Welsh dioceses — at Cardiff, Abergavenny, Carmarthen, Bangor, St. Asaph and Brecon — between November 2011 and January this year. People were also invited to send in written submissions. Separate meetings were held with senior clergy from each diocese, bishops’ advisers, ordinands and staff from Wales’ theological college, St Michael’s College, Cardiff, and senior staff from the representative body. In March they met a delegation of young people from across the church to hear their views.

At the open meetings people were asked what aspect of both their diocese and the church they felt most positive about and what changes they would like to see to make its ministry more effective. They were also asked how they would address challenges such as the predicted fall in clergy numbers and financial resources.

Episcopal Church, Lutheran Presiding Bishops issue joint statement on 2012 International AIDS Conference

[July 20, 2012] Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in presenting the following joint statement on the 2012 International AIDS Conference meeting in Washington DC July 22-27.

We join together as Presiding Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church to welcome the 20,000 people traveling from 200 countries to the United States for the 2012 International AIDS Conference.

The body of Christ is global.  It is impoverished and wealthy; it is diverse in gender and in sexual orientation; it is African, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and Indigenous; it is old and young; it has large families and orphaned youth.  And it is HIV-positive.

We commend the Obama Administration for lifting the travel constraints that for more than two decades prevented HIV-positive persons, including Lutherans and Anglicans, and all others living with HIV or AIDS, from traveling to the United States.  Faith-based advocates played a key role facilitating this change, which enabled this year’s “AIDS 2012” conference to be housed in our nation’s capital—a city itself deeply affected by the virus.

AIDS 2012 can be a defining moment for the history of engagement with HIV and AIDS. Promising new scientific advances and global investments now make it possible to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS, with new hope for a cure and the end of AIDS within our reach.

Yet the pandemic is far from over.  Thirty-four million people around the world are living with HIV or AIDS and infection rates are growing in many parts of the world.  Each year, 50,000 new cases of HIV infection are reported in the United States alone.  HIV infection is part and parcel of the harmful cycles of poverty, which include homelessness, malnutrition, sexual violence, and incarceration.  Vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, ethnic minorities, adolescents and youth, girls and women, sex workers, injected drug users, and men who have sex with men continue to face higher rates of infection and often have less access to affordable, life-sustaining treatments.  This makes them even more susceptible to the debilitating effects of poverty. 

We urge the United States to continue its leading effort to turn the tide on this pandemic.  Our government must redouble efforts and strengthen funding for strong, comprehensive HIV and AIDS programs.  These programs include the global President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and domestic programs that provide affordable access to antiretroviral treatments, palliative care, health services (including for victims of sexual violence), nutritious foods, HIV testing and counseling, and harm-reduction programs for drug users.

God also calls us, as members of the global body of Christ, to serve those who are suffering with HIV and AIDS with respect, support, and compassion.

Our churches must work to shatter the silence, stigma, and discrimination that perpetuate the invisibility of HIV-positive Lutherans and Episcopalians in our denominations, and continue to push them into the shadows of their own congregations.

We will join in unflagging work toward effective prevention, treatment, and care for all living with HIV or AIDS, tailored to the unique needs, culture, ethnicity, and identity of any given group. 

We praise God for this global opportunity to turn the tide on AIDS—in our pews and our communities, in our denominations and in our state governments, in our Lutheran and Anglican global church bodies and with our interfaith partners—that the body of Christ may, within our lifetimes, be HIV-free.

In God’s Healing Presence,

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
The Episcopal Church

Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

"Let me tell you why we go to Church.

It’s not the sermon. Sermons are usually not about anything we can relate to.

It’s not the music. The music is horrible.

It is the sacrament of Baptism and the Eucharist."

More of 

Why ARE youth in church?

What’s In A Name? Is there a case for equal marriage?

The Policy Exchange think tank has published a report entitled What’s In A Name? Is there a case for equal marriage?

The synopsis reads:

The Government’s proposals to introduce civil marriage for same-sex couples have provoked controversy and a wide-scale debate. The public consultation, which concluded in June sparked more responses than almost any other Government consultation. The debate has, in many ways, been more diverse, impassioned and wide-ranging than previous debates around ‘gay rights’. In particular, a ‘conservative case’ in favour of reform has emerged.
Supporters of equal marriage suggest that allowing same-sex people to marry would be an important act to ensure that gay and lesbian people have equal rights under the law. It’s also suggested that marriage is a beneficial institution, encouraging commitment and stability and that these benefits should not be denied to gay people, with some suggesting that marriage could be particularly beneficial to gay people.
Opponents argue that the change would redefine the nature of marriage and weaken the institution as a whole. They also argue that it could lead to a ‘slippery slope’ that could see the likes of polygamous marriage legalised at some point in the future. Concerns have also been expressed by opponents that the changes could be detrimental to religious freedom.
This report adopts an evidence-based analysis of the arguments around marriage equality to consider whether there is a compelling argument to reform the law. It pursues a reasoned analysis of the equal marriage concept and its practical implications and evaluates the arguments on both sides of the divide. It also explores the experience of other countries where marriage equality is already a reality.

The report can be downloaded as a PDF from here. Thanks to Thinking Anglicans.

Magnet Marks Nine Years of Service

Magnet, our gay men’s health center in the Castro, celebrates its ninth birthday in July. In the span of just nine years, Magnet has become an essential resource for thousands of gay and bisexual men in our community to maintain good health. We sat down with Magnet Director Steve Gibson to talk about how Magnet started, what it offers today, and his vision for the future. Read more. 

Are We Allowed to Age? Growing Older as a Gay Man

“Are We Allowed to Age? Growing Older as a Gay Man,” held May 23, 2012, marked the first event in San Francisco AIDS Foundation and STOP AIDS Project’s new Real Talk community forum series. The goal of the series is to host timely, interactive dialogs and exchange knowledge and resources around topics at the forefront of discussions in our community.

As foundation CEO Neil Giuliano observed in his welcoming remarks, aging is “something we all either are facing or will face in our lives,” and it can be joyful, challenging, or both. Forum panelists, each of whom represented an “age decade”—twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and sixties—spoke frankly about their personal experiences of aging in San Francisco’s gay community.

 MORE.

Future of Liberal Religion: A Counterculture Blooms?

Future of Liberal Religion: A Counterculture Blooms?
BY JILL K. GILL

Today, it can be argued, a different type of prophetic witness is emerging that is perhaps as radical and countercultural as those of the 1960s, given the current polarized climate. It asks people to consider how to be good global citizens amid pluralism—a pluralism that includes fundamentalists and atheists.

UK's Church Army creates new online library for evangelism; site features research papers with "serious theological reflection on evangelism and new forms of church"

From Anglican Communion News Service:

A new online library has been launched for people interested in evangelism and new forms of church, which will provide them with free access to research papers and theses. The website,SCOLER(The Sheffield Centre Online Library of Evangelism Research) is a joint initiative between Church Army's team of researchers at The Sheffield Centre and the Churches Group for Evangelisation.

The purpose of the library is to make deeper thinking around evangelism and new forms of church available to people who want to study further, and to demonstrate this level of learning to the wider church.

Each thesis, either MA or PhD level, has its own webpage giving details of who wrote it, which college validated it, the full abstract and a free PDF to download.

Laurence Keith, Researcher at The Sheffield Centre, said: "There has been a lot of great work done by Church Army and others over the last eight years to put new forms of church on the map. One criticism of this movement has been the perception that there has been little thought behind the activism. SCOLER goes some way to correct this balance, showing that some good, reflective research has gone into the field.

"We hope this online library can become a valuable resource both for people doing their own research and for those who are looking for some serious theological reflection on evangelism and new forms of church."

If you have done an MA or PhD in this area, and would be interested in offering your work to the website, please do get in contact with The Sheffield Centre by email or telephoning 0300 123 2113.

Summary of actions at the 77th General Convention

Thanks to the Rev'd Dr. Elizabeth Kaeton for the following summary of actions at the 77th General Convention please go here for the text of all resolutions):

• General Convention approved the $111,516,032 budget for 2013-2015. The budget is based on the Five Marks of Mission.

• The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings of Ohio was elected President of the House of Deputies. Byron Rushing of Massachusetts was elected Vice President of the House of Deputies.
• Anglican Covenant: General Convention affirmed the commitment to building relationships across the Anglican Communion, especially through the Continuing Indaba program, but declined to take a position on the Anglican Covenant.
  
• Eight bishops received approvals to their consent process: Atlanta, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Texas (Suffragan), Virginia (Suffragan), Western Louisiana, and Western Massachusetts. Related, General Convention approved a change in rules so elections held close to General Convention no longer need to go to General Convention for the consent process.

• Israel-Palestine: General Convention supported a resolution on positive investment in the Palestinian territories. Bishops agreed to postpone indefinitely the conversation on corporate engagement.
  
• Bishops rejected several resolutions attempting to postpone implementation of the Episcopal Church Medical Trust.
  
• Executive Council elections: The House of Deputies elected seven lay and two clergy members: Lay members elected for six-year terms are: Joseph S. Ferrell of North Carolina, Anita P. George of Mississippi, Fredrica Harris Thompsett of Massachusetts, Karen Ann Longenecker of the Rio Grande, Nancy Wonderlich Koonce of Idaho, and John Johnson of Washington (DC). Lay person, Elizabeth L. Anderson, of Connecticut was elected for three years. Clergy members elected for six-year terms were the Rev. Susan B. Snook of Arizona and the Rev. James B. Simons of Pittsburgh.
  
• A030: establishes how clergy who want to leave the Episcopal Church for another part of the Anglican Communion can do so without renouncing their Holy Orders
• A033 and C049 enact a series of revisions to Title IV, the clergy discipline canons, to fix some errors while maintaining the underlying principles of the canons
  
• A036: commends the 11-year relationship of full communion with the ELCA and asks the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee to address areas where Episcopal and Lutheran practices differ, especially who can preside at Holy Communion and the role of deacons.
  
• A049: a denominational response to same-sex blessings. The approved liturgy is for provisional use. The diocesan bishop has to grant approval for use in his/her diocese even in those states where same-sex marriage has been legislated. It is effective first Sunday in Advent 2012 (December 2).
  
• A050: authorizes a task force to study marriage.
  
• A054: new rites and prayers for pastoral responses to people caring for animals, including the death of a pet
  
• A102, the first reading of an amendment to the constitution that would help dioceses that want to merge with another diocese or divide itself into two dioceses to do so without requiring sitting bishops in all dioceses involved.
  
• A122: Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church should study the current budgeting process and matters of financial oversight and make recommendations to next General Convention
  
• A158: clarifies the status in the Episcopal Church of pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who had been ordained by other pastors and not by bishops.
  
• A167: creation of an “HIV Welcoming Parish Initiative” to help congregations to become more engaged with people living with HIV/AIDS.
  
• B009: with the bishop’s permission, use the lectionary in the BCP rather than the Revised Common Lectionary
  
• B019: affirms positive investment in the Palestinian Territories. It also calls on the church to support “the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian study on peace with justice in the Middle East,”
  
•  B021: amends the canons to provide a mechanism for addressing disagreements in the pastoral relationship between a diocese and its bishop;
•  B023: solidarity with the poor and indigenous people who bear great burdens because of climate change, with special mention to the Inupiaqs of Kivalina, Alaska
  
• B026: gives dioceses and parishes an additional three years to provide parity in health insurance cost-sharing between lay and clergy employees. That deadline now is extended until Dec. 31, 2015.
• B028: urges Congress to modernize the nation’s refugee resettlement program
  
• C029:  baptism as the normative entrance into Holy Communion
  
• C095 Church structure: a special task force of up to 24 to meet in the next two years from all levels of the church on reforms to structure, governance and administration. There will be a special gathering from every diocese to hear what recommendations the task force plans to make to the 78th General Convention. The final report is due by November 2014.
• D016 - Selling “815”:  The House of Bishops approved a move away from, but did not authorize the sale of, the Episcopal Church Center headquarters.
  
• D018: calls on Congress to repeal federal laws, such as the Defense of Marriage Act, that discriminate against same-gender couples who are legally married in the states where that is permitted;
• D019: Transgender: Support for the transgender community by adding gender expression and identity to two canons that prevent discrimination: the ordination discernment process is open; and guarantees equal place in the life, worship and governance of the church.

• D022: a church-wide response to bullying

• D023: affirms that all Episcopalians are called to be evangelists to help grow the church
  
• D025: establishes a Development Office to solicit major gifts and other resources
  
• D049: creates a pilot student loan fund for seminarians who agree to three years in under-served areas of the Episcopal Church.
• D055: urges the government to enact stricter controls on the use of carbon-based fuels
  
• D059: urges a halt to the Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s practice of detaining people suspected of being in the country illegally without filing any charges against them.
  
• D066:  develops a network of retired Episcopal executives to assist dioceses and parishes, modeled on SCORE
  
• D067: urges passage by Congress of the DREAM Act
  
• D069: a “social media challenge” calling upon every congregation to use social media in its current and future forms
  
• D081: directs the Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations to initiate dialogue between the Episcopal Church and the Mormon Church in anticipation of General Convention 2015 in Salt Lake City.

Sexual Orientation Discussed at Other Sheep Rwanda Seminar

by Rev. Stephen Parelli

July 15, 2012

Gisenyi, Rwanda

Rev. J. Elie Gasana, Other Sheep Coordinator for Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, hosted a one-day workshop in Gisenyi, Rwanda, on July 14. Other Sheep Executive Director Rev. Stephen Parelli offered two papers (in French) and Alfred Ssekabanja of Uganda Victim Support Organization was guest speaker.

Twelve clergy and one lay leader, whose ministries range from the local to national level in Rwanda, participated. In addition, one participant was identified as doing "Other Sheep work in the DRC."

The attendees were arranged into discussion groups, with designated leaders, to read and interact between themselves on the two papers and to prepare written questions for Parelli to address before all the attendees.

The first paper, authored by Parelli, dealt with his own journey through his ex-gay experience. The second paper, authored by Dr. Ralph Blair and used with permission, addressed the Bible texts traditionally used to condemn sexual minorities. Each attendee received a hard copy of each paper.

The majority of the time was spent on the first paper with discussion and questions around homosexuality as an orientation. Parelli said: "Whatever questions you have about homosexuality, ask the same question about heterosexuality and you will have your answer." Parelli repeatedly followed that formula in answering questions from 'is it a choice' to 'how does one become a homosexual' to 'what is same-sex sexual activity like.'

In discussing Parelli's paper, one attendee, whose influence is on a national level within her denomination, commented that for the first time she now understands that it is not a choice to be homosexual. She said she had looked at gays as she had looked at sex workers, that is, that whereas sex workers can elect to do something else (everything being equal), she now realizes the option to do something else does not exist for homosexuals.   Her paradigm shifted from equating gays with sex workers to understanding that homosexuality is an orientation like heterosexuality. Her group leader reported that she said, almost in tears, why should gays be harassed for something they cannot change.

Speaking in the language of Kinyarwanda, Alfred Ssekabanja, guest speaker from Uganda and himself Rwandan, shared his personal story as to how he came to work on behalf of the human rights of LGBT people in Uganda. He said he must help affirm the human rights of LGBT people even at the risk of being rejected by the church. He said he cannot stand silent in Uganda and watch the discrimination, rejection and even the possible death of LGBT people; Uganda cannot become another Rwanda where people are judged 'by their nature and not by their character.' He said our Christian religion did not keep us from horrific genocide in Rwanda where 99 percent of the people profess the Christian faith. He said our Christian faith, which is more about fearing God and less about loving one another, was not able to keep us from genocide; our beliefs must change. He said if we have learned nothing from the Rwanda genocide, we will still discriminate.

In group discussion, one member evoked the word 'kwihanganirana' which means: "I am different; you are different; but we must live together." The group leader reported that what is meant is tolerance, being patient with one another and accepting differences.

Ssekabanja served as interpreter between English and Kinyarwanda. Gasana, who acted as moderator, served as interpreter between English and French. The meeting was conducted in the conference room of a local hotel establishment.

The Indianapolis Statement

The 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, in passing Resolution A049, has authorized the provisional use of a liturgy for blessing same-sex unions.  The purpose of this statement is to record our dissent from this action. 1. At our ordination as bishops of the Church, we have all taken a solemn oath:  “I solemnly declare that I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of The Episcopal Church.”  We remain committed to that oath.  Our commitment to the biblical witness includes its teaching on sexuality. We believe that the Scriptures clearly teach that God’s vision for sexual intimacy is that it be exercised only within the context of marriage between a man and a woman. 2. We serve in a Church whose Book of Common Prayer offers clear teaching on Holy Matrimony.  The opening address in the marriage rite (BCP, p. 423) summarizes that teaching and affirms that marriage is a “union of husband and wife”; that God established marriage in creation; that our Lord “adorned this manner of life” during his earthly ministry; and that marriage points beyond itself to the “mystery of the union of Christ and his Church.” 3. The liturgy entitled “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant” is for all practical purposes same-sex marriage.  It includes all of the essential elements found in a marriage rite:  vows, an exchange of rings, a pronouncement, and a blessing.  We believe that the rite subverts the teaching of the Book of Common Prayer, places The Episcopal Church outside the mainstream of Christian faith and practice, and creates further distance between this Church and the Anglican Communion along with other Christian churches. 4. Our dissent from this action of the 77th General Convention is thus rooted in the teachings of our own Church; in the historic biblical and theological witness upon which those teachings rest; and in the wider context of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and our conviction that no part of the Church is free on its own to alter basic Christian teaching. 5. We are grateful that the rite, as approved by General Convention, contains provisions that protect diocesan bishops and parish priests who cannot for the sake of conscience authorize or use the liturgy. 6. We are committed to the gay and lesbian Christians who are members of our dioceses.  Our Baptismal Covenant pledges us to “respect the dignity of every human being” (BCP, p. 305), and we will continue to journey with them as together we seek to follow Jesus. 7. We reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion of which The Episcopal Church is a constituent member, and to the historic See of Canterbury with whom we are in communion.  We will honor the three moratoria requested by the Instruments of Communion and will do all in our power to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). We invite all bishops who share these commitments to join us in this Statement, as we seek to affirm our loyalty to our beloved Church even as we dissent from this action. +John Bauerschmidt, Diocese of Tennessee +Gregory Brewer, Diocese of Central Florida +Dan Herzog, Diocese of Albany (resigned) +Russell Jacobus, Diocese of Fond du Lac +Paul Lambert, Diocese of Dallas Suffragan +Ed Little, Diocese of Northern Indiana +Bill Love, Diocese of Albany +Daniel Martins, Diocese of Springfield +Ed Salmon, Diocese of South Carolina (resigned) +William Skilton, Diocese of Dominican Republic (resigned) +Michael G. Smith, Diocese of North Dakota +James Stanton, Diocese of Dallas

"We need more crazy Christians" a sermon by Bishop Michael Curry

[July 7, 2012] The following sermon was presented today at the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Indianapolis IN through July 12. A Sermon Preached at the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church The Commemoration of Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Saturday, July 7, 2012 We Need Some Crazy Christians by the Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry Diocese of North Carolina This day we are commemorating the witness of Harriet Beecher Stowe, a woman who used her words to set the captive free.  I’ll say more about her later, but right now I want to note that in 1944 her witness was celebrated in a Broadway play titled Harriet. It was Helen Hayes who played the part of Harriet Beecher Stowe. At the end of the play Beecher Stowe’s family stands around Harriet and sings the words of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” affirming the Christian witness of this brave and bold woman.  Part of the hymn goes like this: [1] In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom, that transfigured you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on. Glory, glory hallelujah, Glory, glory hallelujah, Glory, glory hallelujah, God's truth is marching on. [2] For a text today, I offer these words from Mark 3:19-2: “Then [Jesus] went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’” The King James Version of the Bible translates the concern of Jesus’ family for him in these words: “He is beside himself.” The old J.B. Phillips New Testament translates it, “People were saying, ‘He must be mad!’” But my favorite is from the 1995 Contemporary English Version which says, “When Jesus' family heard what he was doing, they thought he was crazy and went to get him under control.” So, forgive me for saying it this way, but Jesus was, and is, crazy! And those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way, are called and summoned and challenged to be just as crazy as Jesus. So I want to speak on the subject, “We Need Some Crazy Christians.” I don’t want to be too quick to judge Jesus’ mother and the whole family. They had good reason to be concerned.  We just read from 1 Peter a teaching that reflects what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing” (1Peter 3:9). That's crazy.  In the Gospel reading from Matthew, read just a few moments ago, Jesus says, “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Mt. 23:11). That's crazy. What the world calls wretched Jesus calls blessed. Blessed are the poor and the poor in spirit. Blessed are the merciful, the compassionate. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst that God’s righteous justice might prevail. Blessed are those who work for peace. Blessed are you when you are persecuted just for trying to love and do what is good. Jesus was crazy. He said, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who despitefully use you. He was crazy. He prayed while folk were killing him, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Now that’s crazy.  We need some Christians who are as crazy as the Lord. Crazy enough to love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God -- like Jesus.  Crazy enough to dare to change the world from the nightmare it often is into something close to the dream that God dreams for it.  And for those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way?  It might come as a shock, but they are called to craziness. Let me suggest one example of such a call from the New Testament: Mary of Magdala, Mary Magdalene.  For whatever reason, Mary often gets a bum rap.  Think back to the crucifixion of Jesus. Crucifixion was execution by the Empire for crimes against the state. It was public torture.  It was an intentionally brutal means of capital punishment, an execution designed to send a message that revolution and revolutionaries would not be tolerated. If you were a supporter or follower of the person being crucified, it was dangerous to stand too close by during the execution. The rational and sensible thing to do was to go into hiding or exile. Having said that, let’s call the roll of those Jesus called to follow him, let’s take the attendance of the apostles at the crucifixion of their Lord. Simon Peter? Absent. James? Absent. Andrew? Absent. Bartholomew? Absent. Thomas? Absent. Judas? Definitely absent. Mary Magdalene? Present and accounted for! That’s a disciple! When the old slaves sang, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” there was a woman named Mary who could answer, “I was there!” Now that’s crazy! Now it may not be obvious at first, but we actually have a day to remember crazy Christians. I think we call it All Saints’ Day. It’s not called “All the Same Day,” it’s All Saints’ Day, because, though they were fallible and mortal, and sinners like the rest of us, when push came to shove the people we honor as saints marched to the beat of a different drummer.  In their lifetimes, they made a difference for the Kingdom of God. As you know, we are even working on a book to help us commemorate them. We are calling it Holy Women, Holy Men.  But we might as well call it The Chronicles of Crazy Christians. One of the people we celebrate in the book is Harriet Beecher Stowe, a descendant of Mary Magdalene.   She was born in 1811 into a devout family committed to the Gospel of Jesus and to helping transform the world from the nightmare it often is into the dream God intends. She is best known for a fictional work titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  In this fiction, she told the truth. She told the story of how chattel slavery afflicted a family, afflicted real people. She told the truth of the brutality, the injustice, the inhumanity of the institution of chattel slavery. Her book did what YouTube videos of injustices and brutalities do today.  It went 19th-century viral.  It rallied abolitionists and enraged vested interests. The influence of that book was so powerful that Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have said, upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe for the first time, “So this is the little lady who started this great war!” [3] A woman of her era was supposed to write nice stories, not stories that would disturb the conscience of a nation.  She was supposed to marry well, raise well-bred children, participate in a few charitable activities, and be fondly remembered by all who knew her. That was the life she was supposed to have.  But she had been raised in a family that believed that following Jesus means changing the world from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God intends. And sometimes that means marching to the beat of a different drummer. Sometimes that means caring when it is tempting to care less, or standing up when others sit down. Sometimes it means speaking up when others shut up. Sometimes it means being different – even being crazy. When Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Inc., died last year, an old Apple commercial from the 90's went viral on YouTube. It was a commercial that aired in 1997 and that attempted to rebrand Apple products. The tag line for the commercial and the company was, Think different, a phrase that is grammatically incorrect, which is part of the point. In the commercial they showed a collage of photographs and film footage of people who have invented and inspired, created and sacrificed to improve the world, to make a difference. They showed  Bob Dylan, Amelia Earhart, Frank Lloyd Wright, Maria Callas, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jim Henson, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Pablo Casals, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and on and on and on. As the images rolled by, a voice read this poem: Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. [4] We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us.  That may have worked once upon a time, but it won’t carry the Gospel anymore. We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real and that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the Gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil and death. Crazy enough to believe, as Dr. King often said, that though “the moral arc of the universe is long, it bends toward justice.” We need some Christians crazy enough to believe that children don’t have to go to bed hungry; that the world doesn’t have to be the way it often seems to be; that there is a way to lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside; that as the slaves used to sing, “There's plenty good room in my Father's kingdom,” because every human being has been created in the image of God, and we are all equally children of God and meant to be treated as such.  In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom, that transfigured you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While God is marching on. Glory, glory hallelujah, God's truth is marching on. [1] Susan Belasco, “Harriet Beecher Stowe in Our Time,” www.nationalera.wordpress.com [2] Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) [3] Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (New York: Church Publishing, 2010), p. 448 [4] Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997

Chruch budget to seek 19% from dioceses

Program, Budget and Finance issues statement following hearing [July 7, 2012] The following statement has been issued by the members of the Episcopal Church Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance, on July 7 at the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance conducted its second hearing on Friday evening on funding the budget of The Episcopal Church and heard strong support for a 19% asking over the next triennium. The Committee also heard extensive testimony regarding the Development Office. Strong opinions both for and against were expressed. Program, Budget and Finance was impressed by stories offered about the work of the Development Office in supporting local mission. Following the hearing, the Committee voted to craft its proposed budget based on a 19% asking for 2013-2015. Program, Budget and Finance continues to meet in Room 205 of the Indianapolis Convention Center. Its third hearing, on spending, will take place Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Indiana Ballroom of the Downtown Marriott hotel. Diane Pollard, Diocese of New York, Chair of Program, Budget and Finance, and Bishop Stephen Lane, Diocese of Maine, Vice chair, on behalf of the members of Program, Budget and Finance. July 7, 2012

Convention July 5 Sermon: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schorii

General Convention July 5 Sermon: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori [July 5, 2012] The following sermon was presented today at the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Indianapolis IN through July 12. OPENING EUCHARIST Thursday, July 5 Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, Jacob Riis The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church This is not just an Episcopal Church gathering.  We’re here to represent the world of God’s creation, which Jesus came among us to redeem and sanctify.  We ARE here as Episcopalians from Taiwan, and Micronesia, and Haiti, several parts of North America, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe.  We have Anglican, ecumenical, and interfaith guests from many parts of Asia, Africa, Europe and the British Isles, the Middle East, New Zealand, the Americas, as well as right here in Indianapolis.  I am particularly thankful we have Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and the Rev. Dr. Betsy Miller, President of the Provincial Elders’ Conference of Moravian Church Northern Province. We are all here to make common cause for the healing of this world – of its many peoples and nations, as well as the rest of creation.  God’s dream of that healed world is what you heard Isaiah is talking about:  “My purpose shall stand, and I will fulfill my intention.” Our ongoing challenge is to look beyond our own interests to God’s intent for this world.  That will continue to be our challenge until the end of all things, for there is nothing so characteristic of sin as the centrality of our own self-interest.  We will have repeated opportunities here to remember and to turn around.  We will have opportunities to reach beyond ourselves to neighbors here and far away.  The good gifts that we crave for ourselves and our own families are the same ones that God intends for all his children.  Deputies and bishops are elected to consider the common good, not just their own congregations or dioceses, or only this Church. The saints we remember here are a reminder of that catholicity – some of them familiar, and some are new to many of us.  The three we celebrate today were activists for the kingdom of God in their own day.  Each one insisted, in his own way, that the reign of God was meant to be realized on earth as it is in heaven, and not just something anticipated after death.  Each of the three was born in the mid-19th century and died during the time of the First World War.  Together they did the hard work of theology, journalism, and advocacy for a more humane and more divine society on earth.  Walter Rauschenbusch was a New York, Baptist theologian who laid the foundation for what’s called the Social Gospel.  He didn’t mince words. He insisted that private sin begets social sin when he named six sources:  “Religious bigotry, the combination of graft and political power, the corruption of justice, the mob spirit… and mob action, militarism, and class contempt – every student of history will recognize that these sum up constitutional forces in the Kingdom of Evil.” [1]  He insisted that a historical tendency to substitute personal salvation for the kingdom of God meant that people “seek to save their own souls and are selfishly indifferent to the evangelization of the world.”  The good news to the world, in his eyes, was about the reign of God on this earth. Washington Gladden was a Congregational minister and journalist in New York, and Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, and for a brief time a city councilor in Columbus, Ohio.  He understood Christianity as “a religion that laid hold upon life, and proposed first and foremost, to realize the Kingdom of God in this world.”  He was the first cleric to stand up in favor of labor unions, and after he met WEB DuBois early in the 20th century, and saw some of the realities of African-American life in the South, he began to actively oppose segregation.  He exposed corruption in urban government, advocated public ownership of municipal resources, and is probably best remembered for a letter of denunciation that we wrote to his church’s mission board for accepting “tainted” money from a captain of industry. [2] Jacob Riis was a Danish immigrant who arrived on these shores in 1870.  As an immigrant, he suffered poverty, discrimination, and exploitation, and eventually becoming a well-known journalist.  He wrote about and photographed the tenement life of poor New Yorkers, in a book called How the Other Half Lives.  He helped Teddy Roosevelt to clean up the New York Police Department. He also worked to clean up the New York City water system, being polluted by sewage upstream.  His anti-tenement work also led to the development of many small parks and gardens in New York City.  These three evangelists, proclaimers of the good news of the reign of God, insisted that it is meant to be realized and worked toward  in this life, as we pray so often, “on earth as it is in heaven.”  We still live in a world of corruption, bigotry and contempt toward many sorts and conditions of God’s people, and we retain a fondness for the use of force – what Rauschenbusch called militarism and mob behavior.  We have opportunities here in abundance to forswear those evils, to lay down our various weapons of division, and to work together for the commonweal of God’s created world.  Is our faith lively enough to do works toward that kind of abundant life? [3]  In everything we do here, remember those whom we serve, that we may do unto them as we would have done to us – for this is the law and the prophets, and indeed, this is the good news of the reign of God. [1]http://usslave.blogspot.com/2012/02/social-responsibility-walter.html [2] http://www.answers.com/topic/

Disciplinary process set to begin on complaints against nine bishops

[Episcopal News Service] Two complaints apparently have been filed about the involvement of five active bishops and four retired bishops in property litigation in two Episcopal Church dioceses.

Word of the complaints surfaced on various blogs and e-mail lists on June 30. No information about either complaint was released by the Episcopal Church, including the name or names of the complainants.

According to the reports, including an extensive one here, Bishop Clayton Mathews e-mailed two groups of bishops to tell them that he had received complaints against them and that “in the next few weeks” he would begin the disciplinary process as called for in Title IV.6.3-4 of the canons of the Episcopal Church.

It is highly unusual for the existence of a complaint to become public knowledge at this point in the process, regardless the order of the person against whom the complaint is filed.

“As cited in Title IV, disciplinary matters are confidential at this stage,” Episcopal Church Public Affairs Officer Neva Rae Fox told Episcopal News Service July 2. “We are honoring that confidentiality.”

In one instance, the complaint apparently concerns the fact that seven bishops endorsed anamicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief prepared by the Anglican Communion Institute, Inc. in the pending appeal of a court ruling involving the Diocese of Fort Worth and the bishop, clergy and laity who broke away from that diocese in November 2008.

The brief objects to the trial court’s ruling that told the dissidents to return “all property, as well as control of the diocesan corporation” to the Episcopal leaders of the diocese.

Tarrant County District Court Judge John Chupp said that because he found that the Episcopal Church’s governance is hierarchical in nature “the court follows Texas precedent governing hierarchical church property disputes, which holds that in the event of a dispute among its members, a constituent part of a hierarchical church consists of those individuals remaining loyal to the hierarchical church body.”

Those named in the Fort Worth complaint are retired Diocese of Texas Bishop Maurice M. Benitez, retired Diocese of Central Florida Bishop John W. Howe, Diocese of Dallas Bishop Suffragan Paul E. Lambert, Diocese of Albany Bishop William H. Love, Diocese of Western Louisiana Bishop D. Bruce MacPherson, Diocese of Springfield Bishop Daniel H. Martins, and Diocese of Dallas Bishop James M. Stanton.

MacPherson is also named in the other complaint, along with retired Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Edward L. Salmon, Jr. and retired Diocese of Springfield Bishop Peter H. Beckwith. Matthews e-mailed them to say that a complaint has been received against them because they signed affidavits opposing to a motion for summary judgment made by representatives of the Diocese of Quincy and the Episcopal Church in the fall of 2011 to secure diocesan financial assets from a group that broke from the diocese in November 2008.

The motion for summary judgment in that case was rejected in December 2011 and the case is due to go to trial in April 2013.

The Title IV canons outline ecclesiastical disciplinary procedures in complaints about the actions of deacons, priests and bishops. Those canons also outline the types of offenses that are subject to the procedures.

Mathews, who heads the church’s Office of Pastoral Development, also serves as the “intake officer” (the person designated to receive complaints alleging offense) for the church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops, a body called for in Canon 17 of Title IV. He was appointed the Title IV position by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Title IV.6.3-4 says the process begins when the intake officer receives any complaint, after which he or she “may make such preliminary investigation as he or she deems necessary, and shall incorporate the information into a written intake report, including as much specificity as possible.”

When the Anglican Communion Institute announced in April that the bishops had signed onto the Fort Worth brief, its statement said that [the bishops had] “no intention of withdrawing from the church, but it is precisely because they intend to remain in the Church that they are concerned that the trial court ruling has misunderstood, and thereby damaged, the constitutional structure of The Episcopal Church.”

Diocese of Fort Worth Communication Director Katie Sherrod told ENS July 1 that she could not comment on the reports of a Title IV complaint being lodged against the seven bishops because, due to the confidentiality of the proceedings, she had no information.

Jack Iker, who leads to breakaway Fort Worth group, said in a statement that “we are saddened by the report that [the Episcopal Church] is initiating disciplinary measures against seven faithful bishops of the church who have signed an amicus brief in our direct appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.” He accused church “authorities” of resorting to “manipulation and intimidation in an effort to stifle dissent and silence any opposition to their claims.”

Bishop Love of Albany told his diocese June 30 that “I have not been officially charged with anything and may not be depending on the outcome of the initial investigation of the ‘complaint.’” He promised to address his participation in the amicus brief with Matthews and others involved in the Title IV process “at the appropriate time.”

Springfield’s Martins said in a July 1 blog post called “Speaking the Truth in Love” that he was “distressed” that the July 5-12 meeting of General Convention “which was already going to be a tense time, will be complicated ever further” by the filing of these complaints. He said he signed on to the amicus brief “reluctantly and reservedly” and that he opposes “litigating church disputes in secular court.”

Martins said it is “immaterial” if his support of the amicus brief helps either side in the Fort Worth case. “I took the action I did with the best interests of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Springfield, as nearly as I can discern them, at heart,” he wrote, noting that he was not speaking for the other bishops. “My principal concern was to not leave unchallenged the assertion that the Episcopal Church is a unitary hierarchical organism at all levels, and that the dioceses are entirely creatures of General Convention. I viewed signing the amicus brief as consistent with my vow to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Episcopal Church.”

Religious Leaders Support Contraception Coverage Under Affordable Care Act; Catholic Bishops’ Claims Rejected

More than 200 religious leaders from major denominations have affirmed the value of birth control as morally good for both individuals and society, rejecting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ claim that “religious freedom” is being compromised by the Affordable Care Act coverage of contraception.

The leaders endorsed a statement by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) released today as the Catholic bishops’ “Fortnight for Freedom” protests against contraception drew to a close.

“To preserve both fairness and religious freedom, institutions that employ and serve the general public should not be allowed to discriminate for religious reasons,” the RCRC statement says.

Despite the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, 43 lawsuits filed by Roman Catholic agencies remain to be heard by the courts. The RCRC statement  – signed by  Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist leaders  - says that contraception is a “matter of individual conscience. Individuals—not employers—should be responsible for making choices about birth control.”

The statement, “On Birth Control, Religious Freedom, and Conscience,” calls for “public policies that protect each person's ability to access and use birth control according to their own conscience and religious beliefs.”

Leaders in the religious community* who endorsed the statement include Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations;  Rev. Ron Degges, President of Disciples Home Mission; Linda Bales Todd, Director of Women’s Advocacy at the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church; Episcopal Church Bishop Otis Charles;  United Methodist Bishop Jane Middleton;  Rev. Lois Powell, United Church of Christ Executive for Administration and Women's Justice; Nancy Kaufman, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of Jewish Women; Jon O’Brien, President of Catholics for Choice; and Rabbi Dennis Ross,  Director of Concerned Clergy for Choice.
 

The full statement and list of signers is available here.*

*Organization names are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the organization.