Anglicans Vow To Vote Again On Allowing Women Bishopsv

From Huffington-

The Church of England plans to rush through legislation to consecrate women bishops after last week's surprising defeat at the church's General Synod in London.

The church's Archbishops' Council ended two days of closed-door meetings on Wednesday (Nov. 28), and said a plan to allow women bishops needs to be "restarted" when General Synod reconvenes in July. Church leaders originally said the issue could not be reopened until 2015.

The 19-member council acts as the standing committee of the three-tier General Synod made up of bishops, clergy and laity.

"There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter or urgency," the group said in a statement. "The Council therefore recommended to the House of Bishops ... to put in place a clear process for discussions in the New Year with a view to bringing legislative proposals before the Synod in July (2013)."

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/anglican-church-women-bishops-vote_n_2215297.html

Thomas Merton still resonates among Millennials

From Kentucky-

It wasn’t supposed to be a farewell party, but it turned out to be one.

About 100 people gathered at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Thursday evening for the final public event of the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living, a Louisville-based group that for 17 years has sought to promote the teachings and prolific writings of the late Kentucky author-monk Thomas Merton.

The institute (which is unrelated to the Thomas Merton Center, an archive of his works at Bellarmine University), announced last month it would close on Dec. 31 because of financial struggles.

The theme of the event — “Merton and the Millennials: Contemplative Living for a New Generation” — raised the question of whether Merton’s teachings and example had more staying power.

Yes, according to members of the discussion panel and other speakers.

“We’re at a turning point, yes, but contemplative living isn’t going to stop,” Executive Director Vanessa Hurst said.
More here-

http://blogs.courier-journal.com/faith/2012/11/30/thomas-merton-still-resonates-among-millennials/

Effort seeks to raise $50,000 to fix beloved bells at Trinity Episcopal Church

From Toledo-

It is a haunting, tender moment: A 16-year-old girl from another era manually manipulates the giant church bells that chime to the melody of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

The moment was recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder on June 2, 1945. The location, a bell tower at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Toledo.

Installed in 1943, the The Gardner Chimes — 12 bells weighing 9.6 tons — eventually fell into disrepair and have remained silent for 20 years.

Those bells may ring again this spring if the Old Trinity Foundation can raise $50,000 to pay for repairs. The grass-roots organization launched its fund-raising campaign Friday.

The organization hopes to raise the money through corporate and private gifts, organizers said.

“It’s very hard to put a value on this project,” said the Rev. Elizabeth Hoster, rector at Trinity Episcopal Church. “When you think of the soundscape of the city — when you enter the city and hear something like this — it says you have more than just cars driving by.

More here-

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/12/01/Effort-seeks-to-raise-50-000-to-fix-beloved-bells-at-Trinity-Episcopal-Church.html

Ex-Episcopal priests now embracing Catholicism

From Albany-

The Rev. Larry Gipson retired in 2008 as rector at the 8,000-member St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, where his parishioners included former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara.

Last month, Gipson, who has been married for 48 years, was accepted as a Catholic into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a structure set up by Pope Benedict XVI to accept former Anglicans into the Catholic Church.

The 70-year-old cleric will be among 69 candidates for Catholic priesthood meeting this weekend in Houston at the ordinariate's headquarters.

The Rev. Matthew Venuti of Mobile, Ala., became the first ex-Episcopal priest ordained a Catholic priest in the ordinariate, which covers the United States and Canada.


Read more:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Ex-Episcopal-priests-now-embracing-Catholicism-4082110.php#ixzz2DnvblUI7

Also here in the Washington Post-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/former-rector-of-nations-largest-episcopal-church-becomes-a-catholic/2012/11/30/22e6e180-3b11-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html

Going backwards into the future

From Australia-

Very few women actually live today as the Bible instructed them to; the Amish might be rare exceptions. Take short hair, for example; how are women getting away with sporting pixie dos today when 1 Corinthians 11 says: ''Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?''

When author Rachel Held Evans decided to spend a year living strictly ''as a biblical woman'' she found herself, among other things, obliged to grow her hair, wear scarves on her head, refer to her husband as master, rise before dawn, camp in the front yard when she had her period, submit to her husband and refrain from speaking about the Bible when men were present.

A year later, she had gained six kilos, developed a fondness for unleavened bread, confused neighbours by carrying banners about her amused husband which read ''Dan is AWESOME'' - and decided those who wanted women to stop preaching to men had not properly understood the Bible.

Read more:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/going-backwards-into-the-future-20121130-2am0e.html#ixzz2Di9cOtGV

Anglicans storm properties

From Central Africa-

ANGLICAN Church of the Province of Central Africa members' bid to repossess property under the custody of Bishop Elson Jakazi, hit a snag on Tuesday morning.

Police intervened and asked them to have the necessary court documents before moving in.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri, confirmed police intervention and said a group of about 100 people led by the church's diocesan secretary, Reverend Luke Chigwanda, Rev Joseph Chipundla, Rev Kingston Nyazika and a church warden Gashirai Puwai went to St John's Cathedral and offices along Herbert Chitepo Street on Tuesday with the intention of occupying them and found all doors locked.

"We understand that the group wanted to have a meeting with Bishop Jakazi over a court order which he was served with on November 24 for him to move out of the offices. The church and offices were locked, but information reached Bishop Jakazi to the effect that people from the other group had stormed the church offices. Bishop Jakazi made a report to the police who went to the church offices to monitor the situation. They invited the church members to Mutare Central Police Station where they advised them to follow the legal channel to have Bishop Jakazi evicted.

“They were advised to seek the assistance of the messenger of court and they promised to follow the legal route in solving the wrangle," said Insp Chishiri.

More here-

http://www.manicapost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26435:anglicans-storm-properties&catid=37:top-stories&Itemid=130#.ULivOEJOxH8

+Atlanta: Grateful for Adoption

From The Living Church-

The Rt. Rev. Robert C. Wright, 10th Bishop of Atlanta, spoke recently with Dennis O’Hayer of NPR affiliate WABE.

Wright discussed his role as the first African American bishop of Atlanta, the Episcopal Church’s rite for blessing same-sex couples, the gospel (“The issue of God is the most to me; “I think we’ve got to talk about God more”), racial profiling and decriminalizing traffic offenses, and Georgia’s proposed personhood amendment, which he supports, while also “respecting people’s right to choose.”

“As someone who was adopted personally and as someone who has adopted, I am grateful, in a profound way, that … my mother, my biological mother, brought me to term, and gave me the opportunity to live the life that I have lived,” he said. “I am grateful to God for that.”

The bishop said the personhood amendment also should shape Georgians’ thinking about the death penalty and care for the elderly.

More here (including links to the interview)

http://www.livingchurch.org/atlanta-grateful-adoption

C of E to set about resolving deadlock on women bishops

From The Church Times-

THE legislative process to admit women to the episcopate should be "restarted" in July, when the General Synod meets in York, the Archbishops' Council said this week.

During discussions at a residential meeting in Sheffield, on Tuesday and Wednesday, "there was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency," a statement from Church House said.

"The Council therefore recommended that the House of Bishops, during its meeting in a fortnight's time [on 10 and 11 December], put in place a clear process for discussions in the New Year, with a view to bringing legislative proposals before the Synod in July."

Members of the Council had "commented on the degree of sadness and shock that they had felt as a result of the vote (News, 23 November) and also of the need to affirm all women serving in the Church - both lay and ordained - in their ministries".

More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2012/30-november/news/uk/c-of-e-to-set-about-resolving-deadlock-on-women-bishops

The Rev. George Bedell: 1928-2012

From Florida-

The Rev. George Bedell, an Episcopal priest who became a trustee of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a college professor, acting chancellor of the Florida Board of Regents and director of the University Press of Florida, died Wednesday in Gainesville. The Jacksonville native was 84 and had Parkinson’s disease.

The Rev. Bedell served as clerical trustee of the Jacksonville-based duPont Fund from 1985 to 1998. He was appointed by Frank Cerveny, then Episcopal bishop of Florida.
“He was intelligent, compassionate, discerning and a priest who truly possessed the gift of listening,” Cerveny said in a news release.

His colleagues in philanthropy remember him as having a warm sense of humor, being a crackerjack editor and someone who sought to heal, reconcile and promote unity, the release said.


Read more

 http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-11-30/story/rev-george-bedell-1928-2012#ixzz2Di5HE3xh

Maine Episcopal priest facing drug charge appears in court; bail conditions modified

From Maine-

An Episcopal priest charged with mailing prescription drugs to inmates at a Maine jail has made his first court appearance.

The Kennebec Journal (http://bit.ly/Ufi44J ) reports that the Rev. Stephen Foote was not required to enter a plea in Lincoln County Superior Court on Thursday, but bail conditions were modified slightly.

The 70-year-old Foote, who lives in Bremen and was serving at St. Mark's in Augusta, is charged with trafficking in prison contraband. He's free on unsecured bail.

Prosecutors say he mailed suboxone to an inmate he knows at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. Suboxone is used to treat opiate addiction but can be abused.

Two inmates are also facing charges.

Foote's attorney did not comment.

The Episcopal Diocese of Maine has placed Foote on administrative leave.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/286eb1f7a4df4dec8470cd6327dcc65f/ME--Episcopal-Priest-Drugs

Church of England aims to revive women bishops plan

From AFP-

The Church of England said on Wednesday it wanted a swift relaunch of moves to admit women bishops, with revised plans put before its governing body at the earliest opportunity in July.
The 19-strong Archbishops' Council said it wanted to resolve the situation "as a matter of urgency" after the General Synod, the governing body of England's state church, failed to approve legislation in a November 20 vote, triggering turmoil.

"Many council members commented on the deep degree of sadness and shock that they had felt as a result of the vote," said the statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting of the council, the Synod's standing committee.

They also felt the need "to affirm all women serving the church -- both lay and ordained -- in their ministries.

"The council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013.

"There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency.

More here-

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iu-vykj4aYxFc7M7SpN3_thm09VA?docId=CNG.5f5f84da702a80aac5bbd3608e4d3dcb.01

Church of England's rejection of Ms. bishops mystifies

From Canada-

The departing Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, argued for it. So did the incoming one, Justin Welby. Two of the three houses of the Church of England's governing synod, representing bishops and clergy, overwhelmingly voted for it, together with a large majority of the House of Laity.

It was not enough, however, and on Nov. 20, a measure that would have cleared the way for women bishops in Anglicanism's mother church failed to pass. There was immediate talk of a church "committing suicide."

The vote is not the end of the matter. The principle of female bishops in the Church of England, which was approved by the General Synod in 2008, remains. Women are sure to enter the House of Bishops eventually. Fully 42 of the church's 44 dioceses are in favor, as are three-quarters of the general public -- which matters to an established church.

What was rejected was a fudged compromise between liberals on the one hand and Anglo-Catholic traditionalists and conservative evangelicals on the other.

More here-

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/church-of-englands-rejection-of-ms-bishops-mystifies-181323981.html

Zimbabwe: Defiant Kunonga Refuses to Vacate Anglican Cathedral

From Zimbabwe-

There was drama in Harare on Wednesday after the breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, and his supporters, refused to vacate the main Anglican Cathedral in Harare, ignoring a Supreme Court ruling.

Police have refused to intervene and the premises are being guarded by the ZANU PF aligned Chipangano gang from Mbare. The gang assaulted security guards that had been posted by the Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya's main church.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said a child suffered a broken arm while trying to escape when the Chipangano thugs arrived. A security guard was also injured but it is not clear how serious his condition is.

Muchemwa said Kunonga had watched the deputy sheriff break the locks and remove his furniture from buildings at the Cathedral this morning, without any resistance. He also cooperated with clergy from Gandiya's church.

More here-

http://allafrica.com/stories/201211290273.html

Churches come together for Sandy victims

From New York-

Just days after Hurricane Sandy ravaged must of Long Island’s South Shore, Nassau County Episcopal churches began taking part in a relief effort that is still in full swing.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Valley Stream and Trinity-St. John’s in Hewlett have joined forces to help those in need, and they even found some assistance in another state. On Monday, a party rental company from Massachusetts delivered a truckload of food and baby items to Trinity-St. John’s on Broadway, adding to the massive volume of items that had already been collected in the month since the storm.

Michael Linton, owner of Michael’s Party Rentals in Ludlow, Mass., organized a food drive there, partnering with area schools and churches. Items were collected during Thanksgiving week, and on Monday Linton made the four-hour drive to Hewlett, where 4,000 pounds of donations were unloaded and brought into the Trinity-St. John’s parish hall.

More here-

http://www.liherald.com/stories/Churches-come-together-for-Sandy-victims,44664?content_source=&category_id=5&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=

Wamukoya will not bring radical changes in Anglican church

From South Africa-

Africa's first female Anglican Bishop, Ellinah Wamukoya of Swaziland says she doesn't plan to introduce any radical change in the Anglican Church. Wamukoya was enthroned in Manzini, Swaziland this month. This was days before the Church of England voted not to allow female bishops. The mother of three and grandmother of five believes that she'll be able to do her work as archbishop and also spend time with her family.

"It's not easy to balance to be a women working and also running a home because before I became a priest I was working for the municipal council of Manzini for quiet a long time and still then had to juggle my plates and balance the two lives, its not easy it takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of strength to do that."

Wamukoya's immediate task will be to oversee 42 reverends of the Church both spiritually and in financial management.

More here-

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/a9d3af004d9c8189ac2bfde570eb4ca2/Wamukoya-will-not-bring-radical-changes-in-Anglican-church-20122811

Leader of Anglican ordinariate recalls joy of first year

From Catholic News Agency-

Almost a year after being appointed to shepherd Anglican communities seeking to join the Catholic Church, Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson says the past months have been showered with blessings.

“I think the real joys have been to see communities that have struggled with the decision of discerning whether to become Catholic and have made that choice, and they have come in,” he told CNA in a November interview.

He described “the joy on their faces” as they enter the Catholic Church and said, “That’s the thing that sticks in my mind the most.”

Msgr. Steenson leads the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, which was canonically erected on Jan. 1, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI approved the creation of the ordinariate, which is similar to a diocese but includes communities throughout the entire U.S. and Canada.

Based in Houston, the ordinariate allows for entire communities to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage and liturgical practices, such as the Book of Common Prayer.

More here-

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/leader-of-anglican-ordinariate-recalls-joy-of-first-year/

New bishop ordained to lead Carpatho-Russian Orthodox

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

As chants of "Axios!" -- worthy -- filled Christ the Saviour Cathedral, a former research scientist who had become a Greek Orthodox priest and monk was ordained to lead the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA.

"I pray that God will grant me the faith, wisdom and love to lead the flock entrusted to me all the way to Paradise," newly consecrated Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, 55, told the packed cathedral. "I have come to this diocese to serve you the people, not to have you serve me."

But he also came to challenge them, listing five priorities that he said the church must focus on.
The first was the spiritual care and retention of its youth, which he said might require change at the parish level. Statistically "6 out of 10 Orthodox young people will abandon Orthodoxy," he told them. "We must address this or we will disappear."

The North Carolina native was ordained in 2007 and has spent much of his ministry as a traveling preacher, confessor, retreat leader and youth coordinator in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, which covers the Southeast. He promised to spend the next two years visiting all 81 Carpatho-Russian parishes across 13 states and Canada.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/new-bishop-ordained-to-lead-carpatho-russian-orthodox-663945/#ixzz2DWB1TMBe

New Bishop takes to social media

From Rhode Island-

There’s a new Bishop in Rhode Island who using social media to take church to a higher level.

Times are tough for churches both locally and nationally, and in recent years, many have seen declining attendance. Therefore, when the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island was on the hunt for their next Bishop, a strong online communicator was key.

Nicholas Knisely, the new Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island said that Facebook and Twitter are great ways to reach a mass audience.

"Both of them are ways that we reach out to people who are looking for churches, looking to ask questions about religion. You get an unfiltered voice from people in the congregation. I get to hear their questions without a sense of 'Oh I'm talking to the Bishop."” said Knisely.

Since being ordained as Bishop last week, Reverend Knisely has made it his mission to maintain an online presence and be able to answer questions at a moments notice.

More here-

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/providence/new-bishop-takes-to-social-media

George Edward Haynsworth, retired Nicaragua missionary bishop dies

From ENS-

Funeral services will be held Nov. 28 for the Rt. Rev. George Edward Haynsworth, 90, retired missionary bishop of Nicaragua and former assistant bishop in the Diocese of South Carolina.
Haynsworth died Nov. 24 after suffering a heart attack the day before. He lived in James Island, South Carolina.

The service for the burial of the dead will be held in the chapel at the Bishop Gadsden life care retirement community in Charleston. Diocese of South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence is scheduled to preside and retired South Carolina Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison will preach. Haynsworth assisted Allison. (Lawrence has been restricted from exercising his ministry since Oct. 15 after the Episcopal Church’s Disciplinary Board for Bishops certified to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori that he had abandoned the Episcopal Church “by an open renunciation of the discipline of the church.” The restriction is a canonically required part of the board’s process.)

Burial will follow at the Church of the Holy Cross in Stateburg.

Haynsworth was born in Sumter and began college at the Citadel in 1940 but was called into active duty during World War II. He later graduated from the Citadel. He received a theological degree from the University of the South in 1949. He was ordained a priest in 1950. He served as a priest in South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. In 1960 Haynsworth began missionary work serving people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/11/27/george-edward-haynsworth-retired-nicaragua-missionary-bishop-dies/

Rejection of Women Bishops Damaged Anglicans' Reputation, Bishop Says

From Christian Post-

As he was enthroned as Bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester on Sunday, the traditionalist Rt. Rev. Dr. Martin Warner said in his sermon that last Tuesday's General Synod decision against allowing women to serve as bishops damaged the Church's reputation.

The outcome of the Nov. 20 vote had a "damaging effect [on] the Church of England's self-confidence and national reputation," The Telegraph quoted Bishop Warner as saying. "We now have to face some very uncomfortable facts that will implicate us all in a review of our decision-making processes as a Church."

While urging people not to "apportion blame" for the outcome, the bishop added, "Perhaps we can observe that the political processes of the General Synod have not delivered for us a reliable way of finding consensus on how to attain the goal of including women in the episcopate, which is undoubtedly the earnest desire of the majority of people in the Church of England."
Read more at -

http://www.christianpost.com/news/rejection-of-women-bishops-damaged-anglicans-reputation-bishop-says-85543/#0VmX3Jlcsru7Lltx.99

Work continues on implementing the Anglican Methodist Covenant

From ACNS-

The Joint Implementation Commission (JIC) of the Anglican Methodist Covenant has voiced its disappointment that the General Synod has not found a way to move forward on the question of women bishops. It added, however, that, although the vote in General Synod on Tuesday failed to remove a major obstacle to growing into that unity to which the Church of England and the Methodist Church are committed in the Covenant between them, the basis of that Covenant has not changed.

“There is much that still unites us and we will continue to work towards the full visible unity of our churches,” said the Rt Rev Christopher Cocksworth and Prof Peter Howdle, who co-chair the JIC.
“The relationship between our churches has been growing at all levels – national, regional and local – since the Covenant was made in 2003, with many examples of sharing and working together especially at local level. The JIC is committed to helping our churches continue to grow together and to find new opportunities for serving the common good under the Covenant.

“We hope that Methodists and Anglicans, bound together in Covenant and a common history, in the light of the General Synod vote, will continue to pray for each other, value each other’s spiritual heritage and work tirelessly with renewed determination for the unity of the whole Church.”

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/11/26/Work-continues-on-implementing-the-Anglican-Methodist-Covenant

Uruguyans Discouraged

From The Living Church-

The Diocese of Uruguay says it feels “abandoned and unsupported” after the standing committee of the Anglican Consultative Council turned down its request to change provinces.

The diocese, which is part of the Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America, has asked that it be transferred to Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil, which it says is more compatible in theology, mission and philosophy.

It appealed to the ACC standing committee to review its decision, saying it feels “adrift, as if condemned to stay in a province where it doesn’t fit.”

In 2010, the diocese voted to seek another jurisdiction after a proposal to allow dioceses to individually permit the ordination of women to the priesthood was turned down by the 10th Southern Cone synod. The diocese of Uruguay, which currently has female deacons, has been requesting the ordination of women for more than a decade.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/uruguyans-discouraged

Archbishop of Cape Town leads 1000 in procession of witness

From ENS-

Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba on Nov. 25 led one thousand people in a Procession of Witness to kick-start South Africa’s 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children.

Through joining the act of public witness — from Keizersgracht Square to St. Georges Cathedral, Cape Town — Makgoba underlined his backing for the annual, government-supported campaign.
The international theme for 2012 is From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women. Makgoba is firmly committed to increasing awareness of abuse and to developing effective support for victims and survivors of abuse, according to a press release from HOPE Africa, the social development department of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town.

Makgoba invited men, women and young people, representatives of business, government, NGOs, religious leaders and members of the media to join him in the procession of witness. “The Anglican Church of Southern Africa recognizes that not all men are abusers, and therefore warmly invites these men to stand up and be counted, and to join in sending a strong message to abusers out there, saying ‘Not in our name,’” the press release said.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/11/26/archbishop-of-cape-town-leads-1000-in-procession-of-witness/

Departing SC Episcopal Diocese OK With Congregations Staying, Says Official

From Christian Post- (Just a little Orwellian)

An official with a diocese that recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church has explained that congregations opposed to the decision are free to remain with the mainline protestant denomination.
The Rev. Jim Lewis, Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of South Carolina, told The Christian Post that "Continuing Episcopalians" are free to "re-associate" with the denomination.

"Churches wishing to leave the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and re-associate with the Episcopal Church are free to do so, in accordance with their own bylaws and articles of incorporation," said Lewis.

"Just as the majority of the parishes and missions are likewise free to remain with the Diocese and retain all their customary rights and privileges in its membership."
Lewis explained that from the onset the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence, bishop of the Diocese, had explained that this exemption existed for continuing congregations.

Read more at

http://www.christianpost.com/news/departing-sc-episcopal-diocese-ok-with-congregations-staying-says-official-85589/#TQHRJXKIyEtFGCGm.99

New archbishop inherits a divided Anglican Communion

From National Catholic Reporter-

Bishop Justin Welby, a former oil executive who’s emerged as a critic of corporate excess, was named Nov. 9 as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England and leader of the worldwide 77 million-member Anglican Communion.

A statement from British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed the appointment after two days of speculation. Welby, 56, succeeds Archbishop Rowan Williams, who will return to academia at Cambridge University next year.

Speaking at a news conference on Nov. 9, Welby said he is “utterly optimistic” about the future of the Church of England.

He said that the question of gay marriage in his new global flock was a complicated issue “and not one to be handled today, off the cuff.”

But he offered a definite olive branch to the gay community despite reaffirming his opposition to same-sex marriage. Welby pledged to re-examine his own thinking on homosexuality while speaking out against exclusion and homophobia.

More here-

http://ncronline.org/news/people/new-archbishop-inherits-divided-anglican-communion

Dear Rob Bell, the Episcopal Church Welcomes You

From Patheos-

Not long ago I was on a road trip, travelling winding highways that passed through endless small towns.  In many of these towns there was a sign, small but visible, with a shield, a cross, and the words: “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.”  These signs would lead to a church with an open red door—a church that is a part of a tradition that  from the reformation until now has sought to be a middle way, guided by the three fold mix of reason, tradition, and scripture.

I thought of those signs as I read James Wellman’s Rob Bell and a New American Christianity.  The book is a fascinating picture of one of the most complex figures in American religious life—a man who has been loved and hated within both Evangelical and Mainline Christianity.  Wellman is a scholar of religion and he approaches Rob Bell as such—this is a book about a man and his impact on religious life that should be of interest to anyone who wants to understand American culture.  But it is also a deeply personal book that is at times touching.  There is no academic language here—only the clear and fascinating portrait of a charismatic leader.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulwod/2012/11/dear-rob-bell-the-episcopal-church-welcomes-you/

Rector of Calvary Episcopal in Pittsburgh retires

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

When the Rev. Harold T. Lewis became rector of the mostly white and wealthy Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside in 1996, the city was reeling from racial turmoil, and Father Lewis, who is African-American, was expected to be a leader in addressing social injustice.

But circumstances have led him to retire as a renowned advocate for Episcopal canon law.

Five years before the 2008 schism in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, he filed a lawsuit to stop anyone from taking property out of the Episcopal Church.

"If you had asked me when I was ordained ... if I would ever sue my bishop, I would have said you were crazy," said Father Lewis, 65, who retired Sunday.

"It was painful for me to take that step, but it had to be taken for the sake of the church. There were people who said I was crazy, vindictive or jealous, out to lunch. But it turned out to be prophetic."
Father Lewis is a high church Anglican by conviction and heritage. He was raised in such a thriving black Episcopal parish that he was on the road to priesthood before he realized he was a racial outsider in his denomination. He was intellectually and musically gifted: His piano teacher at a high school for the arts urged him to pursue music professionally. But he chose to serve God.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/lifestyle/rector-of-calvary-episcopal-in-pittsburgh-retires-663640/#ixzz2DKTSBJBh

Episcopal Bishop-elect Douglas Fisher: Time for leadership, outreach, continued collaboration

From Massachusetts-

On Dec. 1, the Rev. Douglas J. Fisher will become the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, replacing the Right Rev. Gordon P. Scruton, who is retiring after 16 years.

For the past 12 years, Fisher, 57, has served as rector of Grace Church in Millbrook, N.Y. The Rev. Elizabeth Fisher, 56, his wife, heads St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia, N.Y.

The couple live in Great Barrington, and have
three adult children: Caragh, Geoffrey and Grace.

Recently, Fisher discussed his experience, what drew him to the diocese and his hopes for its future. His ordination and consecration as bishop will begin at 11 a.m. at the MassMutual Center. The chief consecrator will be the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the 26th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, a reception will follow.

More here-

http://www.masslive.com/living/index.ssf/2012/11/post_146.html