From Los Angeles-


The diocesan community stands in prayer with Bishop J. Jon Bruno who today received a diagnosis of acute monocytic leukemia. He will begin treatment immediately. Bishop Bruno has issued a statement to the diocesan community; the full text is below.

April 26, 2012

My dear friends,

As we move close to the 12th anniversary of my consecration on April 29, I am looking forward to the future, yet any time we make too many plans, we have to wait and listen for God.

Having had what I thought was a bout of pneumonia since the House of Bishops last met in March, I have gone back into the hospital to determine what this nagging problem has been.

With the great assistance of Dr. David Cannom of Los Angeles Cardiology Associates, Dr. Glenn Hatfield of The Medical Group, Dr. Lasika Senevirante of the Los Angeles Cancer Network, and the staff of Good Samaritan Hospital, I have discovered that this nagging problem is more than I thought it was. But I have been convinced by Dr. Cannom and Dr. Senevirante that I am too stubborn to let this go by the wayside, so we will start immediately to begin aggressive treatment for Acute Monocytic Leukemia (AML M5).

More here-

http://episcopalnews.ladiocese.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3152938

Lord picked to choose Archbishop

From ITV-

A crossbench peer and former Conservative minister has been appointed head of the commission to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Lord Luce will chair the Crown Nominations Commission, charged with finding a successor to Rowan Williams who is stepping down after a decade as the Church of England's most senior cleric.

The peer's appointment, by David Cameron, was announced by Downing Street today. The nominations commission will put its recommendation to the Prime Minister who will then seek the Queen's approval. An announcement is expected in the autumn.

Dr Williams revealed last month that he would be leaving his post at the end of December in time to start a new role as master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January.

Lord Luce, 75, was a Tory MP for 21 years and served in Margaret Thatcher's government, including as minister of state at the Foreign Office until he resigned over the 1982 Falklands invasion.

He also spent six years as Lord Chamberlain to the Queen until 2006. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 2000 and sits as a crossbencher.

More here-

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-04-26/lord-picked-to-choose-archbishop/

We should elect our chair, say Primates

From The Church Times-

THE Primates of Nigeria and Kenya suggested this week that the Archbishop of Canterbury should no longer chair the Primates’ Meeting. The chairman should instead be elected by the Primates themselves, they said.

The Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Revd Nicholas Okoh, and the Archbishop of Kenya, Dr Eliud Wabukala, suggested the idea at a press briefing on Monday, shortly before the start of a leadership conference of the Fellow­ship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) at St Mark’s, Battersea Rise, in London (News, 6 April). A spokesman for the FCA said that dele­gates from about 30 countries were at­tending the conference, representing about 55 million “of all churchgoing Anglicans”.

Archbishop Okoh said: “My thought is that it will be better to have an Archbishop [of Canterbury] who is respected, honoured, for historical reasons, but that the Anglican Com­munion eventually should think about organ­ising itself around a chairman, who will have a tenured office, of four or five years, and then hand over to another person.”

He continued: “It seems that the Church of England is not carrying along everybody in the Communion, and that is why you can see there is a crisis; if we will solve the problem, we have to change the system.”

Archbishop Okoh noted the way that the Commonwealth now elects its leadership. “It is the same thing; the Church of independent countries — no longer the British Empire — must make some changes. It is not something that should remain permanent that the Arch­bishop of Canterbury, whether he understands the dynamics in Africa or not, remains the chair, and whatever he says, whether it works or not, is an order.”


More here-

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=127734

Convention to consider position on proposed Anglican Covenant

From ENS-

The Anglican Covenant has been variously rejected, affirmed, approved and subscribed to by some Anglican Communion provinces, and even been given an “amber light” by one. The Episcopal Church will soon consider its own formal response to the document which supporters say offers a way to bind Anglicans globally across cultural and theological differences

At present, three resolutions, each calling for partially different responses to the proposed covenant, will be proposed to the 77th General Convention when it meets July 5-12 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council announced last October that it would submit a resolution (A126, found on page 590 of the Blue Book) to convention that would have the church say it is “unable to adopt the Anglican Covenant in its present form.”

In recent weeks, two additional resolutions — from different groups of bishops — have been submitted to convention. Those two resolutions will be posted here soon.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/27/convention-to-consider-position-on-proposed-anglican-covenant/

Archbishop of Sudan appeals for peace as tensions rise between neighbouring countries

From ACNS-

The Anglican archbishop who was instrumental in delivering peace to Sudan has raised the spectre of full-blown war and appealed for restraint from the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak, leader of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, urged the two presidents to pursue peace in spite of the difficulties following the major clashes threatening the fragile peace that churches helped to broker in 2005.

In a statement released Monday, he wrote that he was deeply concerned that the conflict between the two countries has escalated close to full blown war. The current civil war began in 1983 and is one of the longest running conflicts in the world, costing nearly two million lives.

After a long history of violence and war since independence, a second major conflict broke out in 1983 between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan.

Archbishop Daniel’s statement comes at a low moment in the peace process. The signatories of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the agreement which provided the path for the countries to separate last year, have lost momentum to follow through with their commitments.

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/4/24/ACNS5092

Bishops File Brief in Texas

From The Living Church-

Seven bishops and the Dallas-based Anglican Communion Institute filed a brief with the Texas Supreme Court Monday regarding The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth v The Episcopal Church.

“These amici remain in The Episcopal Church and submit this brief solely because they disagree with the characterization of the governance of The Episcopal Church as submitted in support of the motion for summary judgment that the trial court granted in this case,” the brief says. “The amici oppose the decision by the Appellants (‘Diocese of Fort Worth’) to leave The Episcopal Church, but in its ruling against them the court has misunderstood, and thereby damaged, the constitutional structure of The Episcopal Church.

“These amici curiae support the traditional polity of The Episcopal Church founded on the autonomy of its constituent dioceses and therefore submit that the trial court erred both as a matter of fact and as a matter of law when it found that The Episcopal Church has a hierarchical authority superior to the diocese and its bishop.”

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/bishops-file-brief-texas

Ground broken for cardboard cathedral

From UPI-

Ground has been broken for a temporary Anglican cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, to replace the building damaged in last year's earthquake.

The building designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has been nicknamed the "cardboard cathedral," because its materials include cardboard tubes, the Wellington (N.Z.) Dominion Post reported. It also includes more conventional materials like steel and glass.

"It's a time of celebration and joy and we are full of hope," Bishop Victoria Matthews said as she sprinkled holy water on the site.

The original cathedral, which was built between 1863 and 1904 and designed by British architect Gilbert Stuart Scott, suffered so much damage in the earthquake that church officials decided to demolish it, arguing building a new cathedral would be less expensive than reconstructing the old one. That decision is being challenged by heritage groups.
Read more:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/04/24/Ground-broken-for-cardboard-cathedral/UPI-38641335290029/#ixzz1t341BlV3

From Christian Concern-

Church leaders representing 40 million Anglican churchgoers met this week to discuss the “crisis” in the Anglican Church.

The three day meeting, organised by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, brought 200 clergy and laity from 30 countries together in London to address what they criticised as the attempt to “turn Christianity merely into a movement for social betterment”.

They said it was clear that the leadership in England had failed to hold the 77 million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion together and suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury should in future be replaced with an elected chair.

Keynote Address

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, leader of Kenya’s 13 million Anglicans and Chairman of the Primates Council of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, gave the keynote address. He said:
“Some sections of the Anglican Communion have been echoing the words of the serpent; ‘has God really said…?’ And their strategy has been to continue this dialogue endlessly in order to wear down resistance while all the time pursuing their self determined mandate of radical inclusion.

More here-

http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/social/anglican-crisis-addressed-at-global-leadership-conference

‘Blue Book’ reports posted on General Convention’s website

From ENS (So what makes it blue?)

The Blue Book, the collection of reports to the Episcopal Church’s 77th General Convention of the work completed by its committees, commissions, agencies and boards (CCABs), during the 2010-2012 triennium, is now available to download here.

The book, at more than 750 pages, also contains more than 150 “A” resolutions that the CCABs have proposed to the General Convention, which meets July 5-12 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the Diocese of Indianapolis. (Legislative committee hearings and some other convention activities begin July 4.)

Most, but not all, “A” resolutions are contained in the Blue Book. For example, the church’s Executive Council agreed April 20 to submit three A resolutions to convention. Those three resolutions can be found in a list of all council action here.

Resolutions may also be submitted to convention by three other groups: bishops (B resolutions); dioceses (C resolutions); and deputies (D resolutions). Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson assign each resolution as it is received to one of the convention’s legislative committees. Once those assignments are made, resolutions are posted here. The deadline for filing any type of resolution is 5 p.m. EDT July 6, the second official day of convention.


More here-


http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/23/blue-book-reports-posted-on-general-conventions-website/

Last service held at 290-year-old RI church

From Rhode Island-

Parishioners at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John in Providence cried and hugged as the 290-year-old church held its final service and prepared to close.


The pews were packed Sunday as the Rev. David Joslin urged the crowd to temper their grief and disappointment with faith. He said how one handles disappointment leads to a "maturation of faith."


The fourth-oldest church in the Rhode Island Episcopal diocese needs millions of dollars in repairs and there isn't enough money to keep the nearly 200-member congregation going.


Parishioners will be joining other congregations. Church officials say they'll be securing the building and maintaining it, in case it reopens in the future.


The church was known as King's Church when it was founded in 1722.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2012/04/23/last_service_held_at_290_year_old_ri_church/

Danvers church to hold public marriage vow renewal ceremony

From Boston-

The Calvary Episcopal Church of Danvers is offering a public, town-wide ceremony for couples to renew their marriage vows on Saturday, June 16, as part of the Danvers Family Festival.

All couples—those of all faiths, including those married in a religious or civil ceremony—are invited to renew their vows with a blessing from Reverend Thea Keith-Lucas at the Pavilion of the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, followed by a free reception across the street at Calvary’s Parish Hall.

“In the regular Sunday service I always invite people if they have a birthday or wedding anniversary, or if they have something else they want to celebrate to come forward,” Keith-Lucas said. “So that’s been a part of the church’s life since before I started with them.”

“It’s going to be pretty cool,” said Fran Weil, the church’s events coordinator. “We just thought it was a great way, what better way to celebrate the Danvers family festival than by offering a blessing for the ultimate commitment—marriage.”

More here-

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/danvers/2012/04/danvers_church_to_hold_public.html

Virginia diocese elects Susan Goff as bishop suffragan

From ENS-

The Rev. Canon Susan Ellyn Goff was elected April 21 as bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

Goff, 58, canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Virginia, was elected on the fourth ballot out of a field of three nominees. Two other nominees withdrew after the second ballot and another withdrew after the third. Goff received 148 votes of 207 cast in the clergy order and 164 of 258 cast in the lay order. An election on that ballot required 104 votes in the clergy order and 130 in the lay order.

The election was held at a meeting of a special council for the election of a bishop suffragan at St. George’s Church in Fredericksburg.

Goff will serve under the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, who was consecrated in 2007. The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick Jr. serves as assisting bishop.
“I am excited to be able to welcome Susan to the Virginia episcopate,” Johnston said after the election. “In her work as canon to the ordinary, she brings much wisdom, grace and discretion, qualities that I know will translate well in the role of bishop suffragan.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/21/diocese-of-virginia-elects-susan-goff-as-bishop-suffragan/

Western Louisiana diocese elects Jacob W. Owensby as bishop

From ENS-

The Very Rev. Jacob W. Owensby was elected April 21 as fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.
Owensby, 54, dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Shreveport, Louisiana, was elected on the sixth ballot from a field of three candidates. One other nominee withdrew after the second ballot, two others withdrew after the third, and a fourth after the fifth. Owensby received 78 votes of 143 cast in the lay order and 30 of 58 cast in the clergy order.

The election was held at a special convention at St. James’ Church in Alexandria. Delegates participated in a service of holy Eucharist before balloting began.

Owensby will succeed the Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, who will retire in July after 10 years as bishop of the diocese.

Shortly after his election, Dean Owensby said: “I am humbled to be called to be the fourth Bishop of Western Louisiana and filled with affection for the good people who make this part of our state their geographical and spiritual home. Joy, excitement, and anticipation have me a little tongue-tied right now. But I can say that my first and most important job is to love the people of this Diocese and to help them grow in their witness to the extravagant love of God in Jesus Christ. I am especially looking forward to building deep relationships with my fellow clergy, visiting with our congregations and helping them to grow in vitality, and serving our Lord together with these wonderful people.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/21/western-louisiana-diocese-elects-jacob-w-owensby-as-bishop/

Grass roots vs. hierarchy: Spirituality, religion collide

From Daily World-

Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, recently announced that he would step down by year's end. A few days later, the Church of England rejected a Williams-backed unity plan for global Anglicanism, a church fractured by issues of gender and sexual identity. The timing of the resignation and the defeat are probably not coincidental. These events signal Anglican's institutional failure.

But why should anyone, other than Anglicans and their American Episcopal cousins, care? The Anglican fight over gay clergy is usually framed as a left and right conflict, part of the larger saga of political division. But this narrative obscures a more significant tension in Western societies: the increasing gap between spirituality and religion, and the failure of traditional religious institutions to learn from the divide.

Until recently, the archbishop of Canterbury was chief pastor for a global church bound by a common liturgy and Anglican religious identity. Expectations for religious leaders were clear: Run the church with courage and vision. Bishops directed the laity, inspiring obedience, sacrifice and heroism; they ordered faith from the top.

More here-

http://www.dailyworld.com/article/20120423/OPINION/204230311/Grass-roots-vs-hierarchy-Spirituality-religion-collide?odyssey=nav%7Chead

A Female Episcopal Priest Visits a Mormon Temple

From Missouri-

As I stood in front of the new Mormon Temple in Liberty, Mo., it struck me as ironic that close to 175 years ago, Mormons were forced out of this same state.

Whereas the Missouri public once urged their governor to force Joseph Smith and his followers out of the area surrounding Kansas City, Mormons began to return to the region in the 1900s, eventually gathering in such large numbers that the Church organization decided the region needed a temple.

Which is why I came to visit.

Latter Day Saints restrict temple access to members of their denomination who have proven themselves to be faithful and dedicated adherents. Because Mormons believe temples are the most sacred places on earth, one needs to be prepared to enter them by being an active member of the Church. (In contrast, chapels, where Mormons hold Sunday worship, are open to everyone. Temples are used only for certain rituals and are not open on Sunday so that Mormons can be at their chapel services.)

When a new temple is built, anyone may enter prior to its dedication. So, always curious to learn about the faith of others, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to see a site normally closed off to an Episcopal priest like myself.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-tumminio/inside-a-mormon-temple-a-female-episcopal-priest-visits_b_1430206.html

Episcopal Diocese chooses bishop

Longer version of the article below- Additonal links follow-

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has elected a Yale-educated former agnostic and one-time horse wrangler as its next bishop, choosing a theological conservative known for building relationships with those on the other side of divisive theological issues.

Bishop-elect Dorsey M.W. McConnell, 58, rector of a parish in Chestnut Hill, Mass., said he was overjoyed, and spoke of reconciliation in a diocese wounded from a bitter split in 2008.

"Pittsburgh is the city of bridges and the gospel is about the bridge that God has made to us in Christ," he said. "In the city of bridges, of all places, we ought to be able to heal the divisions not only in our church but within the city itself. I look forward to finding out how God is going to use us in the midst of that."

Pittsburgh is the first of four split dioceses to elect a new bishop. Bishop Kenneth Price Jr. has served as an interim. The 11-county diocese has nearly 9,000 members in 33 parishes.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/episcopal-diocese-chooses-bishop-632585/

From Boston

http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-21/news/31379550_1_new-bishop-clergy-votes-laity

From ENS-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/21/diocese-of-pittsburgh-elects-dorsey-w-m-mcconnell-as-8th-bishop/

From The Tribune Review-

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_792407.html

Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh elects new bishop

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Rev. Dorsey McConnell, a Yale-educated former agnostic whose classical theology moves him to build relationships with those on the other side of divisive issues, has been elected the eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Like the other four nominees, he has an extensive background in bringing together people of opposing viewpoints on gay ordination and other theological issues. That was considered critical in a diocese that split in 2008, with the majority of its clergy and laity leaving the Episcopal Church to form the more conservative Anglican Church in North America. However not all the conservatives left, and the Episcopal diocese remains theologically diverse.

He won election on the sixth ballot, after going head-to-head in earlier rounds with the Rev. Stanley Runnels from Kansas City, Mo. Rev. Runnels, a longtime advocate of gay ordination and gay marriage was the more liberal candidate. Although Rev. Runnels led among lay voters on five ballots, the final vote was 47 laity and 31 clergy for Rev. McConnell and 35 laity and 10 clergy for Rev. Runnels.

Bishop-elect McConnell had a majority of clergy from the first ballot.

Bishop-elect McConnell, 58, is rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He has also served in Seattle and New York City.

More here-

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/12112/1226230-455.stm

The Ripped, Bikini-Clad Reverend

From The "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department-

I stood by the mailbox holding a package that weighed about as much as an apple. Inside, I knew, there was a bikini. I was almost afraid to open it. How could something so small hold such a big risk?

As an Episcopal priest, I am usually more interested in what is going on inside a person than in what shows on the outside. Most days, if I have official duties, I put on my black clergy shirt, my white collar and a suit that looks decent and head out looking like a priest.

Now here I stood with my package, wondering how “priestly” I would look in its contents. The fabric was fire-engine red; a sprinkling of rhinestones along the edge caught the light.

I needed the bikini for the physique competition at the Wisconsin State Fair. I started training the year before. I loved how strong it made me feel. Now I was about to compete in front of hundreds of people.

The competition would be on a Sunday morning, a day I had requested off for “a personal enrichment experience.” I would not know many people in the crowd. No one from church would be there. Men and women would perform poses of “front double biceps,” “side triceps” and “back lat spread,” while at the other end of the exhibit hall, judges would award ribbons for apple pie and pickled beets. This was a wholesome environment; still, I knew I couldn’t share widely what I was doing.

More here-

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/the-ripped-bikini-clad-reverend.html

Members debate budget process, consequences of racism

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council wrapped up its work of the 2010-2012 triennium here on April 20 by discussing its on-going work against racism and issuing a memo saying that the proposed draft budget released to the church “is not exactly” the one it passed.

“We’ve tried to give a non-blame but descriptive, supporting document,” council member Fredrica Thompsett (Diocese of Massachusetts) told her colleagues in presenting the memo for their approval.

The memo says there are “potentially many explanations for the multiple errors in the document,” including “too many spreadsheets, too little time” and the “rapid discourse” involving two different budget proposals on the final day of council’s January session.
And, the council said, a decision to schedule the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance‘s meeting on the budget to begin the day after council adjourned in January required council to agree “to a final document before the treasurer’s office had adequate time to draft the document for final review by Executive Council.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/20/executive-council-closes-out-triennial-work/

Episcopal bishop vote set Saturday

From Pittsburgh-

Five finalists seeking to become the first permanent bishop of Pittsburgh's reconfigured Episcopal diocese have strong records in mediating and listening to people, a church official said.

"We are clearly looking for people who are healers and reconcilers," said the Very Rev. George Werner, former dean of Trinity Cathedral and former president of the house of deputies of the Episcopal Church, the national church's second highest position.

In addition to mediating well, he said, the candidates "are people who build the community." Among the finalists is the Rev. Canon Scott T. Quinn, 57, of Crafton.

Certified church deputies, clergy and designated diocesan leaders will vote Saturday at Trinity Cathedral, Downtown, until a nominee gets more than 50 percent of the vote. Anyone can attend the electing convention and tonight's pre-convention meeting at 7 o'clock at the cathedral.

The bishop will take the job after a fractious decade in which the Pittsburgh diocese split in 2008. Then-Bishop Robert Duncan tried to realign it with more theologically conservative churches that opposed the U.S. leadership's support for keeping abortions legal and the 2003 consecration of openly gay pastor V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire.

Read more:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_792111.html#ixzz1sZxlvxz2

The Church of England faithful left to fend for themselves

From London-

Members of the congregation at St Michael and All Angels parish church in Croydon, south London, don’t ask for much. A decent sermon, perhaps a few rousing hymns; clean pews; a tidy garden at the back; someone to help with Sunday school. But this month, they need something rather more important: a new vicar, to replace the one who converted to Catholicism and took 69 of his flock with him to a church up the road.

A “Parish priest: vacant” sign now stands outside the towering red-brick church behind West Croydon train station. Seven weeks ago, it housed 100 parishioners and a vicar who had served there for 16 years. Today, St Michael’s has less than half its original congregation, after the Rev Donald Minchew quit his post and was received into the Catholic faith at St Mary’s, 500 yards away.

This extraordinary leap of faith was prompted by the Rev Minchew’s decision to join the Ordinariate, a structure within the Roman Catholic Church that allows Anglicans to enter into full communion while retaining some of their C of E heritage. The practice started last January, when three former Anglican bishops were ordained as Catholic priests, following a decree from Pope Benedict XVI to heal division between the faiths. Since then, dissatisfaction with aspects of Anglican doctrine – including the Church’s attitude towards homosexuality and its willingness to consider female bishops – has led hundreds to take up the offer of conversion.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9214082/The-Church-of-England-faithful-left-to-fend-for-themselves.html

Church to re-dedicate Napoleonic chandeliers

From North Carolina-

All Saints’ Episcopal Church’s four brilliant chandeliers were first lit at the original downtown Concord church May 9, 1937.

But they had burned long before that – by candlelight – in the Paris palace of Prince deRohan Bonaparte, cousin of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, according to church archives.

At morning worship April 22, a simple ceremony of re-consecration and re-dedication, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the four chandeliers as part of the church, will be observed in the sanctuary of the building on Lake Concord Road that All Saints’ Episcopal erected in 1972.

Leading the service will be the Rev. Nancy Cox and the Rev. Chip Marble, assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. A reception will take place after in the parish hall.

A writer covering the first local lighting for the Concord Tribune wrote that even the royal pomp and ceremony of the coronation of King Edward VI of England couldn’t match the brilliance of those chandeliers

Read more here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/04/20/3184906/church-to-re-dedicate-napoleonic.html#storylink=cpy

Ex-diplomat installed as rector of Trinity Episcopal in Ashland

From Oregon-

Fresh from 25 years as a U.S. diplomat — most of it on the front lines of international political and cultural interactions in China — the Rev. Anthony Hutchinson was installed Thursday as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland.

Hutchinson, 58, who was ordained in the Hong Kong Anglican Church in 2008, took the Ashland post on Jan. 1. He says he brings a church tradition rooted in thoughtfulness and faith, not "bumper-sticker slogans."

"I bring an international Anglican breadth to the church, a sacramental view," he says, noting the Episcopal Church is rooted in Protestant and Catholic traditions. "It's a prayer made manifest."

From 2009 to 2011, Hutchinson served as assisting pastor and minister of music at the Congregation of the Good Shepherd in Beijing, where his parishioners hailed from a wide spectrum of Christian faiths. He also had served as chaplain at St. John's Cathedral, and taught biblical languages and literature at Minghua Theological Seminary in Hong Kong.

In the Foreign Service, he specialized in public diplomacy in China and also served in Africa. In China, Hutchinson was a right-hand man for ambassadors, sometimes providing the prayers for the embassy's solemn occasions, including on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

More here-

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120420/NEWS/204200335

Five vie to lead Episcopal Diocese of Western Mass.

From Western Massachusetts-

The panel charged with drawing up the slate of nominees to replace retiring Bishop Gordon P. Scruton, the spiritual head of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, which includes Worcester County, apparently cast a wide net — selecting candidates from Connecticut, New York, Idaho and California.

Church officials last night announced that five clerics, one of them a woman, are under consideration to become the diocese’s ninth bishop.

They are: the Very Rev. Richard A. Demarest, 55, the dean at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Boise, Idaho; the Rev. Dr. Douglas John Fisher, 57, the rector at Grace Church in Millbrook, N.Y.; the Rev. Nancy Gossling, 60, the rector of St. James’ Church in Glastonbury, Conn.; the Very Rev. Ron W. Griffin, 58, the rector of Christ Church in Eureka, Calif.; and the Very Rev. Mark B. Pendleton, 49, the dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford.

More here-

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120420/NEWS/104209694/1003/NEWS03

Executive Council looks to future near end of triennium

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council began its last meeting of the 2010-2012 triennium contemplating its leadership role — and emotional investment — in the church’s journey to its future.

The council has spent much of the last three years exploring how the Episcopal Church must change in response to the challenges facing all mainline churches, including declining memberships and thus declining finances, demographic shifts and cultural changes in the place and authority accorded to religious communities in society. When General Convention convenes in July in Indianapolis, deputies and bishops will grapple with a variety of calls (some of the proposals can be seen here) for changes in the church’s structure that their proposers say will help the church meet those challenges.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson and Bishop Stacy Sauls, Episcopal Church chief operating officer, all addressed the impact and implications of those challenges during their opening remarks April 18.
Jefferts Schori reminded council members that they began the current triennium “just past a major budget cut [made by the previous meeting of Convention] that forced a public and painful reduction in church center staff.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/18/executive-council-looks-to-future-near-end-of-triennium/

Pawn-ticket trail leads to suspects

From New York-

From pulpit to pawn shop is a journey few burglars or cops take.

And it's a long trip when the path to pawning religious artifacts leads two alleged criminals on a bus ride to New Haven.

Police in that Connecticut city charged Joseph Plouffe, 32, of 310 25th St., Watervliet, and James Zaremski, 30, of 25 Holland Ave., Albany, with third-degree grand larceny, accusing them of intending to pawn sterling silver items stolen this past weekend from St. John's Episcopal Church in Troy.

Plouffe was apprehended Tuesday at Superior Exchange after the pawn shop notified police of the religious items. Zaremski was collared at the intersection of Chapel and Church streets on the New Haven Green a short time later.

Read more:

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Pawn-ticket-trail-leads-to-suspects-3490695.php#ixzz1sU1Ym8tC

Episcopal Diocese set to announce 5 bishop nominees

From Western Massachusetts-

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, which encompasses Worcester and four other counties, is expected to announce today the five nominees under consideration to replace retiring Bishop Gordon P. Scruton.

Bishop Scruton, who was consecrated in 1996 and who served at one time as rector of St. Francis Church in Holden, announced last June that he would step down as spiritual shepherd of the local church at the end of 2012.

The process to find a replacement formally began last August with the appointment of Search and Transition committees.

“At this point, we’re coming near the end of our search for a new spiritual leader,” said the Rev. Tanya Wallace, the chairman of the Transition Committee and rector of All Saints Church in South Hadley.

More here-

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120419/NEWS/104199805/1003/news03

Seeds for souls: A vegetable garden to feed the poor

From Florida-

Heirloom tomatoes are ripening beautifully in Tim Hadsell’s "give back" garden, just weeks after the Greenacres man planted his first crops in the fertile lot behind his local Elks Lodge.

It was a rather neglected patch of land, overgrown with melaleucas and weeds, but in it Hadsell saw great, green possibilities.

Green like the broccoli, lettuce, zucchini and robust heads of lettuce that are now sprouting in the varied patch he planted in February.

Great like the mission these crops serve: to feed the needy at St. George’s Episcopal Church and Community Center in Riviera Beach.

More here-

http://www.pbpulse.com/dining/2012/04/18/seeds-for-souls-a-vegetable-garden-to-feed-the-poor/

It started in a schoolhouse

From The Diocese of Bethlehem-

A worship area that 100 years ago served as a schoolhouse offers a glimpse of the history and tradition at Church of the Epiphany in Glenburn.

On April 20, as part of the yearlong centennial celebration, the Rt. Rev. Jack Croneberger, Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, will join the Rev. Craig Sweeney, rector of the Church of the Epiphany, in a rededication of the church’s renovated parish hall and centennial celebration . A catered dinner dance will follow with Big Band and Jazz music provided by the Jim Welsh Band. A host of activities for youngsters, including a movie, games and music catered to their taste will round out the event. Seniors will be treated to a free shuttle service and babysitting for children will be available at no charge.

The formation of the church began on the Festival of the Epiphany, January 6, 1912, at a small gathering of residents of the Abingtons held in the 1876 Centennial Schoolhouse in Glenburn. The meeting was cut short because the potbelly stove provided insufficient heat to encourage extended discussion. Enough interest was expressed though, and the schoolhouse was subsequently purchased and renovated; it serves to this day as the worship area of the Church of the Epiphany.

More here-

http://theabingtonjournal.com/stories/It-started-in-a-schoolhouse,140197

Joint Statement from Truro Anglican Church, Fairfax and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

From Virginia-

Truro Anglican Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia announced today a settlement that concludes five years of litigation that arose after Truro Anglican and other parishes left the Episcopal Church in 2006 to become part of what is now the Anglican Church in North America.

The settlement follows a January ruling in which the Circuit Court of Fairfax County held that all real and personal property held by the parishes at the time they left the denomination belongs to the Diocese.

Under terms of the settlement, the Diocese has given Truro Anglican a rent-free lease of the church buildings at 10520 Main Street in Fairfax, as well as two rectories, until June 30, 2013. Truro Anglican will deed the properties to the Diocese by April 30, 2012, and will pay the operating costs of the properties during the term of the lease. In addition, the Diocese has the option to use a small portion of the church building during the lease, as determined between the Rev. Tory Baucum, rector of Truro Anglican, and the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia.

http://www.thediocese.net/news/newsView.asp?NewsId=40968233