North Carolina adds two bishop candidates by petition

From ENS-

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of North Carolina is pleased to announce the addition of two petition candidates to the slate of nominees for the 12th bishop diocesan of the diocese.
The additional nominees are:

The Rev. George Adamik – St. Paul’s, Cary, North Carolina
The Rev. Canon Michael Buerkel Hunn – The Episcopal Church, New York, New York

The petition process is allowed per Resolution 201-1 of the 200th Annual Convention, as amended by the 201st Annual Convention, and provides that following the announcement of nominees for the 12th bishop chosen by the Nominating Committee, the Standing Committee accepts nominations by petition for a two-week period.

“Two petition nominations were received,” said Joe Ferrell, president of the Standing Committee. “The Standing Committee certifies these nominees have had the same background checks as were done with respect to the nominees of the Nominating Committee and that each nominee passed the same.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/01/05/north-carolina-adds-two-bishop-candidates-by-petition/

St. Matthew drops plan to host Thanksgving faith service over gay marriage issuse

From North Carolina-

One Catholic Church in Charlotte fired music director Steav Bates-Congdon after he married his longtime male partner.

Now another has pulled out of hosting the city's largest interfaith service rather than allow Bates-Congdon to be part of the team planning the annual event.

Mecklenburg Ministries’ 38th annual Thanksgiving Interfaith Service is still on for Nov. 26. But it’ll be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Dilworth, not at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Ballanytne – Charlotte’s biggest house of worship.

Read more here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/20/4402683/st-matthew-drops-plan-to-host.html#.UmUQQxazn68#storylink=cpy

Stained glass trolley tour draws crowd with art, stories, history

From North Carolina-

 Raemi Evans grew up admiring the colorful windows at Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church and shared their history Saturday during Salisbury’s first stained glass trolley tour.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” said Evans, who served as a volunteer docent. “It brings a degree of pride that my church was listed as one with some of the most beautiful stained glass.”

More than 50 people toured the windows at Soldiers Memorial, Haven Lutheran, St. John’s Lutheran, St. Luke’s Episcopal and Catawba College’s Omwake-Dearborn Chapel.

The event proved so popular that Center for Faith & the Arts ran out of seats on the trolley and added a van to carry the overflow crowd. But the demand for $20 tickets continued, and several latecomers were happy to follow the trolley in their own cars.

In 1904 or 1905, Evans’ grandparents purchased a large stained glass window for Soldiers Memorial. It bears their names — Prof. James and Rose Aggrey, given in honor of their infant daughter, Abna Azalea, who is Evans’ mother.

Her grandparents’ window at Soldiers Memorial, as well as each window at the other churches, tell a story. From familiar Bible verses to depictions of the life of Jesus Christ to representations of saints, each work of art offers a lesson, as well as decoration.


More here-


http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20130810/SP01/130819974/1016/stained-glass-trolley-tour-draws-crowd-with-art-stories-history

North Carolinians stand up for the poor, vulnerable on Moral Mondays

From ENS-

It’s not every day a bishop receives a courtesy call from one of his priests letting him know he plans to get arrested.

Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina Bishop Michael Curry received just such a call from the Rev. Randall Keeney, vicar of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro, before Keeney’s May 6 arrest for civil disobedience during the second “Moral Monday” protest against actions of the state legislature in Raleigh. On July 29, the movement marked its 13th week with a march to the state capitol and an interfaith social-justice rally. The weekly rallies – although not the push for change – may now take a hiatus until lawmakers return from their summer break, participants say.

“We are in the middle of a movement that is only just beginning, and it’s a church movement,” said Curry. The North Carolina NAACP launched the rallies, led by the Rev. William Barber, its president and a United Church of Christ minister. The interfaith protests, which draw believers and nonbelievers alike, are “revival-like,” Curry said. “There’s singing and there’s praying and there’s preaching, and Jesus gets talked about a lot. … The Hebrew prophets are quoted regularly.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/07/30/north-carolinians-stand-up-for-the-poor-vulnerable-on-moral-mondays/v

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church closes in Charlotte

From North Carolina-

After more than 100 years in three locations in Charlotte, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church closed and ended services on Central Avenue last week.

While the immediate cause was financial, a spokesman for the Raleigh-based North Carolina diocese as well as the leader of the church-elected vestry said internal conflict that has roiled the church for several years contributed to the decision.

“It’s something that had to happen,” said senior warden Calvin Hefner. “The finances were a small portion of our problems. We simply were not able to move forward as a vestry.”

The Rev. Canon Michael Hunn, who represents Bishop Michael Curry and also is in charge of church transitions, says the diocese had worked with the congregation, including a series of meetings held over the last year.

“We were aware because of recent history that the finances were in dire shape,” Hunn said. However, he acknowledged problems within the church went further than the ledgers: “It’s been a struggling situation for some time.”

Read more here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/03/4083308/st-andrews-episcopal-church-closes.html#storylink=cpy

North Carolina elects Anne Hodges-Copple as bishop suffragan

From ENS-

The Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple was elected Jan. 25 as bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, pending the required consents.

Hodges-Copple, rector St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Durham, was elected on the  fourth ballot out of a field of five nominees. She received 182 votes of  262 votes cast in the lay order and 123 of 183 votes cast in the clergy order. An election required 158 votes in the lay order and 123 votes in the clergy order.

The election was held during the diocese’s 197h Annual Convention at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem. Pending a successful consent process, Hodges-Copple will become the diocese’s first bishop suffragan since the Rt. Rev. Gary Gloster retired in 2007. She will be charged with joining Bishop Michael Curry in leading the diocese further into Galilee. She will perform regular ecclesiastical duties like parish visitations and confirmations, while focusing especially on Galilee ministry initiatives, young adult ministries, diaconate expansion and diocesan outreach ministries.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/01/25/north-carolina-elects-anne-hodges-copple-as-bishop-suffragan/

Election results here-

http://www.dionc.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3157580