Oasis News Blog

[Episcopal News Service] Saying that the last seven years have taken a toll on him, his family and the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, Bishop Gene Robinson told the diocese Nov. 6 that he will retire in early 2013.

"Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years, and in some ways, you,” said Robinson,speaking at the conclusion of the diocese's 208th annual convention. "While I believe that these attitudes, mostly outside the diocese, have not distracted me from my service to you, I would be less than honest if I didn't say that they have certainly added a burden and certain anxiety to my episcopate."

In February 2006, Robinson spent 28 days in an alcohol-treatment center for what he then called his "increasing dependence on alcohol." He told the convention that his continued sobriety is a "total blessing to me."

When Robinson was elected June 7, 2003, he was the first openly gay priest chosen by an Episcopal Church diocese to be its bishop. His retirement announcement came just more than seven years after his ordination and consecration on Nov. 2, 2003. In May of this year, Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop Suffragan Mary Glasspool became the second openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Robinson said that New Hampshire is "the one place on earth where I am not 'the gay bishop.'"

"I believe that you elected me because you believed me to be the right person to lead you at this time," he said. "The world has sometimes questioned that, but I hope you never did."

In his announcement, Robinson asked the diocese to begin a process to elect a bishop coadjutor who would serve with him for the three months prior to his Jan. 5, 2013 retirement. He will be nearly 66 by that date. The Episcopal Church's mandatory retirement age for clergy and bishops is 72.

In a Nov. 7 statement emailed to Episcopal News Service, the Rev. Bonnie Perry, rector, All Saints Episcopal Church Chicago and co-founder of the Chicago Consultation, said "Robinson's episcopacy has been marked by extravagant grace under extraordinary pressure."

"His courage, intelligence and good humor have been a blessing to our church and to the millions of LGBT and straight people around the world who long for God's justice here on earth," she said. "Gene's willingness to risk everything for the sake of the gospel, and to bear patiently with those who could not accept his ministry mark him as one of Christ's own forever."

Meanwhile, Diocese of Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen, general secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, also known as GAFCON, said in a statement that "the agonizing dispute in the Anglican Communion is not about Bishop Robinson personally."

"It is true that his consecration as a bishop seven years ago was one of the flashpoints for a serious re-alignment of the whole communion," he said. "But many things have happened since then."

Robinson said that the diocesan Standing Committee will begin work next month on a process leading to an election for his successor in the spring of 2012 and a planned ordination and consecration Sept. 15 of that year. His successor will become the 10th bishop of the diocese.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Supreme Court Wrestles Over Religious Scholarship Program

Adelle M. Banks of the Religion News Service reports:

Is a state law that allows tax credits for donations to scholarship programs unconstitutional if most of the recipients attend religious schools?

That's the question the U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with Wednesday (Nov. 3), centered around an Arizona program where two of the largest scholarship groups require recipients to attend Catholic or evangelical schools.

Is this a legitimate tax break or just an end run around the US Constitution?

Grace Cathedral Installs Jane Shaw as Dean On Nov. 6

Shaw is the cathedral’s eighth – and first female – dean in its 104-year history

The Very Rev. Dr. Jane Shaw will be installed on Nov. 6 as the eighth dean of Grace Cathedral.

Nationally and internationally recognized leaders of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church, the academic world and the interfaith community will gather for Shaw’s installation, which will take place during Evensong, a distinctively Anglican service where the Word of God is illuminated by music. She will be installed by the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California.

“I am honored to assume the leadership of Grace Cathedral, a house of prayer for all, which has played a prominent role in the city of San Francisco and the Episcopal Church for more than a century,” said Shaw. “As its new dean, I will work to further the cathedral’s reputation as a place abound with a thoughtful and thinking faith, and one active in civic engagement, committed to social justice and outreach, and filled with rich liturgical music. Grace Cathedral is truly a location to experience the divine mystery of Christ and a chance to become anew through regular participation in liturgy.”

“Jane Shaw is a gifted preacher and one with deep expertise in liturgy. Her theological vision, committed to the Gospel and leadership skills make her resoundingly qualified to lead Grace Cathedral as its new dean,” said Andrus.

Shaw today is already an established leader in the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a branch, an accomplished academician both in the U.S. and the U.K., a highly regarded speaker and noted author. She will build on Grace Cathedral’s strong legacy of the importance of a thinking and thoughtful faith, civic conversation, and engagement with the Bay Area and wider world.

Historically, new dean installations are momentous occasions for cathedrals as they often occur only once in a generation. For Grace Cathedral, it has been more than a quarter century since the Very Rev. Alan Jones, the cathedral’s seventh dean, was installed. Jones served from 1984-2009. The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, formerly the 12^th Bishop of Virginia, served as its interim dean for a year concluding in October 2010.

On Nov. 6, Shaw will be installed as dean by Andrus. Immediately following, the Rev. Cn. Dr. Vincent Strudwick of Oxford University and long-time mentor of Shaw’s, will deliver the sermon.

Formerly of the University of Oxford in England, Shaw served as the Dean of Divinity and a Fellow of New College, Oxford. In addition, she taught history and theology at the university for 16 years; she has been at New College for nine years. She is Canon Theologian at Salisbury Cathedral and an honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

Shaw is known internationally for her exceptional talents in the communication of Christianity in the public sphere. In Great Britain, she has been successful in bridging differences in governance and policies pertaining to inclusion, and has served as Theological Consultant to the Church of England House of Bishops.

Since the late 1980s, Shaw has studied or held academic positions at several United States institutions of higher education. She earned a Master’s of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1988 and a Ph.D. in History from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994. In 2006, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Episcopal Divinity School. In the 1990s, she taught at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, Calif. Shaw has been a Visiting Professor at U.C. Berkeley, Emory University and Florida Atlantic University.

On June 25, 2010, at a special meeting of Grace Cathedral’s Board of Trustees, the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, Bishop of California, nominated Shaw for the position of Grace Cathedral’s eighth dean. The trustees enthusiastically and unanimously voted to approve her nomination.

Shaw’s installation comes a century after the installation of the Grace Cathedral’s first dean, the Very Rev. James Wilmer Gresham, who served the cathedral for almost three decades, from 1910 to 1939.

Shaw and her partner, Sarah Ogilvie, Ph.D., live in San Francisco.

About Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral (www.gracecathedral.org), seat of the Bishop of the Diocese of California, is home to a community where the best of Episcopal Christian tradition courageously embraces innovation and open-minded conversation, where inclusion is expected and people of all faiths are welcomed, where beliefs are put into action and where people are encouraged to seek God and progress on their own spiritual journey. As a part of the Episcopal Diocese of California, this renowned San Francisco landmark serves as a regional magnet where diverse people gather to celebrate, seek solace, converse and learn.

About the Diocese of California

The Episcopal Diocese of California (www.diocal.org) has entered a new era of the Church’s life emphasizing mission, diversity and collaboration. We believe The Episcopal Church has acharism, a gift, to be a generous form of Christianity. The Diocese of California has embraced the vision put forth a hundred years ago by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, later espoused by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that we should manifest “the beloved community” – the living out of our essential interrelatedness in Christ.

Pridelines for gay Miami youth unveils new website

– Pridelines Youth Services proudly announced today the launch of the organization’s new website at www.pridelines.org. The colorful new site is designed for both youth and Pridelines supporters to easily access information on events, programs, volunteer opportunities as well as the goals and mission of the organization and links to make a donation.

"We're so excited about the growth that Pridelines has experienced in the last six months,” said Eddie Serrano and Martha Sternberg, Co-Chairs of Pridelines’ Board. “From our new drop-in center and David Bohnett Cyber Center to this new website, Pridelines has reached a milestone in its 28-year history. South Florida's LGBTQ youth now have a safe space at our center and on-line."

The new site offers a section for featured content; constantly updated Facebook posts; access to a new and improved calendar of events; several resource pages for LGBTQ youth, parents, and the transgender community; as well as a section for corporate supporters. Coming soon will be a secure youth portal exclusively for Pridelines members and potential members.

"Our new site is attractive, user-friendly and informative,” said Victor Diaz-Herman, Pridelines’ Executive Director. “And when the youth portal goes live, we'll be able to engage LGBTQ youth from throughout South Florida who might not otherwise be able to get to our center on a regular basis. This portal will provide a secure area for our youth to discuss current events, our group sessions and upcoming Youth Enrichment Activities in a Social Media style platform.”

Pridelines Youth Services is a grassroots 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by gay youth for gay youth and their allies in the wake of Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign. Pridelines’ mission is to support, educate and empower South Florida’s LGBTQ youth in a safe and diverse environment as well as to foster dialogue and cultivate social change. Pridelines provides safe space, social support, skills building, leadership development and referrals to mental health, health care and support services for LGBTQ youth and their straight allies between the ages of 14 and 24.

Located in Miami Shores at 9526 NE 2nd Avenue, #104, Pridelines is located off of two bus routes and is near I-95. For LGBTQ youth unable to get to Pridelines, the center offers satellite programs throughout Miami-Dade County. For more information about Pridelines, call (305) 571-9601, or visit www.pridelines.org.

Bishop Compares Fight Over Female Bishops To World War II

Al Webb of the Religion News Service reports this astounding story form the Church of England:

A leading bishop in the Church of England has triggered fury in British religious circles by likening the debate over allowing female bishops to the "serious threat" of warfare posed by the Nazis on the eve of World War II.

Bishop of Lewes Wallace Benn told a conference of conservative Anglicans in Hoddesdon, England that, with the conflict over women bishops, "I feel very much increasingly that we're in January of 1939."

Benn, who's due to retire in two years, warned his audience that "I'm about to use an analogy, and I use it quite deliberately and carefully. And it slightly frightens me to use it, but I do think it's where we are at."

So those who seek to open all of the Church's ministries to all of the baptized are just like Adolf Hitler and the Nazis? No wonder Church of England attendance continues to drop.

Study: Americans Crave Forgiveness But Are Not Very Forgiving

Whitney Jones of the Religion News Service reports:

Most Americans have a desire for more forgiveness in their lives, but they are more critical when choosing who to forgive, according to a new survey. ... Researchers found that even though the U.S. is composed of people who are usually forgiving, more than half of Americans said there are situations where people should never be forgiven, including abuse, sexual crimes, murder and other intentionally committed crimes.

The survey found that a majority of Americans also believe forgiveness is conditional: 60 percent said "forgiving someone would first depend on the offender apologizing and making changes."

So are those who believe forgiveness is conditional following the Gospel or not?