Bishops act the bully in parliament

From The London Guardian-

It is more than 170 years since the Church of England was last able to dictate as to who presided at weddings in this country. In 1836, to much Tory and Anglican grumbling, Protestant Nonconformists were given the chance to celebrate the happiest day of their lives in their own chapels, rather than be forced to resort to an Anglican service in an Anglican church, and civil marriage was recognised in English law.

At the present day, certain of the bishops of the C of E don't seem to have noticed that it is not 1835. On 25 January 2010, a group of bishops in the House of Lords led by the bishops of Winchester and Chichester scuppered an amendment to the equality bill which would have allowed three specific faith communities, Liberal Judaism, Quakers and Unitarians, to register civil partnerships on their own premises. These three religious groups, after much discussion (and of course, prayer), had each independently decided that they wanted to take this step, as part of their commitment to their religious life and as an expression of their communal belief – but my Lords the bishops took it upon themselves to decide for Jews, Quakers and Unitarians what they should believe and practise. Never mind what these non-Anglicans think, they proclaimed, the amendment was the thin end of the wedge, and soon Anglicans would be forced to do the same sort of thing willy-nilly.

Quite apart from the fact that this group of bishops did not actually represent anyone in the Church of England other than themselves, their action was bizarrely inconsistent with what the same bishops had just secured for their own church. They had led the defeat of a government proposal to limit the space within which religious bodies may be exempt from anti-discrimination law. They had said that this was a matter of conscience, of the church's spiritual independence. It was hardly any time at all before the same Lords Spiritual were denying spiritual independence to other religious bodies who were seeking to find legal recognition solely for their own practice. That seems to me a bit rich. Luckily on 2 March the Lords have a chance to think again and think more logically, since Lord Waheed Alli is proposing to re-present the amendment that Winchester and Chichester helped to kill last month.

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/24/equality-bill-bishops-civil-partnerships

Anglican leader worried about Mideast's Christians

From the Washington Post-

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams voiced grave concern Saturday over the eroding Christian presence in the Holy Land on the first stop of his four-day pilgrimage to the region.

Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican communion worldwide, held a sermon for hundreds of faithful at the River Jordan after dedicating the cornerstone of an Anglican church to be built at the site where tradition says Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

Williams said he "worried deeply" about the dwindling numbers of Christians in the Mideast, and stressed that it was the church's duty to support Christians who face hardship due to regional conflicts.

Williams is also expected to visit Gaza and the West Bank, after traveling to Jerusalem for meetings with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as part of an interfaith dialogue.

more here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/20/AR2010022001237.html

MIDDLE EAST: Archbishop of Canterbury meets with heads of churches in Jerusalem

From Episcopal Life Online-

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Feb. 22 held a series of meetings with the three most senior heads of churches in Jerusalem: His Beatitude Theophilus III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and members of the Holy Synod; His Beatitude Torkom II, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; and His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

"The already-warm relations that exist between the various local churches in Jerusalem were underlined, as was the common responsibility of the church globally to confirm and strengthen the presence of vulnerable Christian communities in the Holy Land, including in Jerusalem," said a press release from Lambeth Palace, Williams' London residence. "Each encounter reiterated that everything possible needed to be done to ensure that the Christian communities in the Holy Land could continue to flourish and contribute to the wider good of all communities in the region."

Accompanied by Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani and Church of Ireland Bishop Michael Jackson of Clogher, co-chair of the Anglican Jewish Commission, the archbishop led the Anglican delegation in the fourth meeting of the dialogue with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

"The meeting was characterized by a deepening sense of trust and openness, and a growing determination to work towards a greater mutual understanding between the faiths, and especially between the Jewish and Christian communities in the Holy Land," the release said. "This growing mutual respect and confidence was symbolized by the delegations together visiting Yad Vashem," the holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

Following a guided tour, members of the delegations "stood together in a moment of reflection beside the eternal flame at the Hall of Remembrance," the release said. Williams, Dawani and Jackson laid a wreath and prayed silently together.

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81808_119672_ENG_HTM.htm

Armstrong criminal trial postponed to October

From Colorado Springs-

A 4th Judicial District judge today postponed the criminal trial of the Rev. Donald Armstrong of Colorado Springs to Oct. 18.

The trial had been set to begin today.

The change was due to scheduling conflicts between Armstrong’s defense attorney, Dennis Hartley, and the Pueblo District Attorney’s office.

Judge Gregory Werner also set a status conference for Aug. 18, where Hartley is expected to waive Armstrong’s right to a speedy trial. Werner anticipates the trial lasting three weeks.

Armstrong, the former rector of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, was indicted last April by a 4th Judicial District grand jury on 20 felony counts of theft charges. The indictment concluded an 11-month investigation by Colorado Springs police and the Pueblo District Attorney’s Office into Armstrong’s alleged financial misconduct while rector of Grace.

Police maintain that between 1999 and 2006 Armstrong funneled about $392,000 of church funds earmarked for Episcopal seminarians to finance his two children’s college education.

If convicted on all felony counts, Armstrong, 60, could spend the rest of his life in prison. Each count comes with a possible prison sentence of four to 12 years.

More here-

http://www.gazette.com/news/trial-94570-armstrong-today.html

Ligonier priest chosen for Episcopal executive council

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

The Rev. James Simons, a theologically conservative Episcopal priest who remained in that church after most of his fellow conservatives in the Diocese of Pittsburgh left it, has been elected to an important post in the national church.

"I hope to bring a perspective from one of the dioceses that is rebuilding after the previous leadership decided to leave the Episcopal Church," said Rev. Simons. "I think there are some misconceptions about what that was about and what happened and who left and what this diocese is like." The Rev. Simons was chosen to fill a vacancy on the executive council. The board of 38 laity and priests governs the church between triennial General Conventions.

He will remain rector of St. Michael of the Valley, Ligonier. "I will bring a conservative perspective from my own theological viewpoint, which I suspect is part of the reason I was elected," he said. The Rev. Simons, a nationally known leader among conservative Episcopalians, stunned people on both sides of a rift over biblical theology when he didn't follow Bishop Robert Duncan out of the church in 2008. He was a central figure in rebuilding the Episcopal diocese from scratch. He has a history of service at a national level, and is well known because of that.

The link was here but is now not working-

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10055/1038131-455.stm#ixzz0gS1P9Uaz

Ligonier Township Episcopalian priest's leadership expands

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-

A Ligonier Township priest who is prominent in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has been named to a senior national leadership group of the Episcopal Church.

The church's executive council voted Monday to name the Rev. James B. Simons, rector of St. Michael of the Valley, Rector, as its newest member. The 38-member executive council serves as a board of directors of the Episcopal Church between sessions of the general convention, which meets every three years.

"I'm honored to be asked to serve the church in such a significant capacity," Simons said. "I am also pleased the executive council has chosen someone from among the dioceses that are currently rebuilding. In Pittsburgh, we have learned that people with differing views can work together to bring all people to the gospel of Jesus Christ."

This new appointment tops a list of responsibilities Simons has assumed at the national level of the Episcopal Church.

At the 2009 general convention, he became chairman of the House of Deputies Dispatch of Business Committee, a gatekeeper for the flow of convention business. He has been a deputy to the general convention seven times. He has just concluded nine years as a member of the president of the House of Deputies' Council of Advice, having served in that position under two House presidents.

Simons succeeds Bishop-elect Ian Douglas, who is resigning from executive council because of his election as bishop of Connecticut. Simons will serve the remainder of the term and will continue as rector of St. Michael's, a position he has held since 1988.

Simons is a Pittsburgh native and was ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church in 1985. He graduated in 1980 from Allegheny College and in 1985 from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, where he also received his doctorate of ministry in 2007.

He and his wife, Lisa, have three children.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_668621.html

Anglican bishops back end to ban on gay civil partnerships in church

from The London Times-

Gay couples could soon be allowed to “marry” in church after a decision by Anglican bishops and other clergy to support a relaxation of the ban.

Senior bishops in the Lords have told The Times that they will support an amendment to the Equality Bill next month that will lift the ban on civil partnership ceremonies in religious premises. The amendment would remove the legislative prohibition on blessings of homosexual couples and open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques and all other religious premises.

In a letter to The Times a group of Church of England clerics say today that religious denominations should be allowed to register civil partnerships on their premises if they wish.

It would be up to individual denominations whether to offer civil partnership ceremonies.

The Church of England, which along with the wider Anglican Communion is divided over gay ordinations and same-sex blessings, will maintain its official ban. But if the legislative prohibition is lifted, as seems likely, the Church’s own ban is likely to be ignored by some clergy.

The Lords amendment is expected to be tabled in the next few days by Lord Alli, the Labour peer, who is openly gay. It is likely to be backed by the Conservatives and, significantly, the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Rev Timothy Stevens, who convenes the 26 bishops in the House.

More here-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7037062.ece

Va. Episcopalians narrowly vote not to recognize gay marriage

From The Washington Times-

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia hedged on recognizing same-sex unions Saturday, instead voting to form a committee to set standards for church-sanctioned blessings of such unions once they are approved by the entire 2-million-member Episcopal Church.

About 346 delegates to the dioceses annual council meeting at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria narrowly voted -- by a show of hands -- to form the committee.

It was a less radical choice for the 80,000-member Virginia diocese, the largest in the Episcopal Church. A substitute amendment suggesting the diocese allow openly gay clergy and same-sex blessings failed after a lengthy debate.

The vote was in response to last summer's decision by the Episcopal General Convention, which met in Anaheim, Calif., to pass resolution C056, which empowered the denomination to begin "collecting and developing theological resources and liturgies" for same-sex blessings. The denomination is expected to endorse some kind of rite at its 2012 meeting in Indianapolis.

Sixteen Episcopal dioceses -- including four since last summer -- already allow same-sex blessings.

Saturday's resolution was a compromise between three previous proposed resolutions: one that proposed Episcopalians keep to a traditional understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman, and two others that proposed the diocese lift its current prohibition against same-sex blessings, ordaining sexually active homosexuals or allowing them to serve in a parish.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/21/va-episcopalians-narrowly-vote-not-recognize-gay-m/?feat=home_top5_read

Executive Council vows long-time support for Haiti, gives church $10 million challenge

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council pledged Feb. 22 to stand by the Diocese of Haiti as it continues to minister to earthquake survivors and plans its long-term rebuilding efforts, while challenging the church to raise at least $10 million to help pay for that rebuilding.
The council said (via Resolution WM011) that "Haiti's recovery and reconstruction must be directed by the Haitian people" and affirmed "the authority of Bishop [Jean Zaché] Duracin and the leaders he appoints to request and direct the resources required to rebuild the damaged institutions and impacted congregations of the diocese."

Meanwhile, Executive Council also issued a message to the church, saying that during its meeting it "was exhorted to humility and patience, inspired to action in the cause of justice, and reminded of the importance of the seemingly mundane."

"Meeting in the beginning of Lent we were constantly reminded of the power of God in Jesus Christ to redeem and save, in the moment and for all time," council said before going on to outline the results of its work in Omaha.

The $10-million Haiti challenge, proposed by out-going council member and Diocese of Connecticut Bishop-elect Ian Douglas, grew out of his colleague Mark Harris' call to the council to set aside a tithe from the remainder of the church's 2010-2012 budget for the reconstruction of the church in Haiti. He said that "the hurt to the family" in Haiti "requires a pledge on our part that doesn't come from the largess or the abundance of our lives, but comes from the core and, I would suggest, essentially our flesh." Without such support, Harris said, the future of the church in Haiti will "suffer in ways which we would be very sad to see happen."

Council members said they stand ready to receive Duracin's assessment of the diocese's needs and will review the church's support for the rebuilding effort at subsequent meetings. They also said the council "strongly supports" Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's "efforts to marshal the resources of the wider church" in support of Haiti, and to work directly with Duracin "in ensuring these resources are provided in the most effective manner."

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_119666_ENG_HTM.htm

Diocesan Leader Elected to Episcopal Church’s Executive Council

From Pittsburgh-

Today the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church elected the Rev. Dr. James B. Simons, Rector of St. Michael’s in the Valley, Ligonier, as its newest member.

The 38-member Executive Council serves as a board of directors of the Episcopal Church between sessions of the General Convention, which meets every three years.

“I’m honored to be asked to serve the church in such a significant capacity,” said Dr. Simons, adding, “I am also pleased the Executive Council has chosen someone from among the dioceses that are currently rebuilding. In Pittsburgh we have learned that people with differing views can work together to bring all people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

This new appointment tops a list of responsibilities Dr. Simons has assumed at the national level of the Episcopal Church.

At the 2009 General Convention, he became Chair of the House of Deputies Dispatch of Business Committee, a gatekeeper for the flow of convention business. He has been a deputy to the General Convention seven times. He has just concluded nine years as a member of the President of the House of Deputies’ Council of Advice, having served in that position under two House presidents.

“I commend the Executive Council for its excellent choice, and I am not surprised,” said Pittsburgh Bishop Kenneth L. Price, Jr., who as Secretary of the House of Bishops worked with Dr. Simons at General Convention.

The bishop added, “I am impressed at how respected he is in the larger church. I am happy that the councils of the church will benefit even more from those gifts that Jim has shared so well here with us.”

As president of the diocesan Standing Committee from October 2008 until December 2009, Dr. Simons was instrumental in directing the rebuilding the diocese after its former leaders left the Episcopal Church. He was the ranking Ecclesiastical Authority in the diocese during that time until Bishop Price was elected in October 2009.

Dr. Simons succeeds Bishop-elect Ian Douglas, who is resigning from Executive Council because of his election as Bishop of Connecticut. Dr. Douglas had been elected to the Council as a clergy representative from the House of Deputies.

Dr. Simons will serve the remainder of the term which expires after General Convention in 2012. He will continue as Rector at St. Michael’s rector, a position he has held since 1988.

http://www.episcopalpgh.org/diocesan-leader-elected-to-episcopal-church’s-executive-council/

Executive Council discusses trends in Episcopal Church membership

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council heard here Feb. 21 that church membership and Sunday attendance continued to decline in 2008, but also heard a call for the church to promote knowledge of the characteristics of growing congregations.
During his statistic-laden hour-long report, Kirk Hadaway, the church's program officer for congregational research, told the council that congregations grow when they are in growing communities; have a clear mission and purpose; follow up with visitors; have strong leadership; and are involved in outreach and evangelism.

Congregations decline, he said, when their membership is older and predominantly female; are in conflict, particularly over leadership and where worship is "rote, predictable and uninspiring."

The primary source of the statistics for Hadaway's report is the canonically required (Canon 1.6.1) information filed annually with diocesan bishops by each congregation. The so-called parochial reports are due by March 1 of the following year. An example of the sort of information gathered is available here. Hadaway analyzed the data received to compile a variety of statistical reports and also cited a variety of surveys of church members that he and others have conducted.

The 2008 parochial reports show overall church membership at 2,225,682 people, with a total average Sunday attendance (ASA) at 747,376. Those totals compare with 2007 membership of 2,285,143 and total ASA at 768,476. The dioceses in the United States saw a 2.8 percent drop in membership and a 3.1 percent decrease in ASA. Overall church membership -- including 10 non-U.S. dioceses -- was down 2.6 percent and attendance dropped 2.7 percent for the entire church.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_119609_ENG_HTM.htm

Church was stop for escaped slaves

From Maryland-

The short stretch of tunnels and paths that makes up the local portion of the Underground Railroad remains as relevant today as it ever did.

The Rev. Edward Chapman of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church on Washington Street said “several thousand” students, scholars and curious travelers visit the trenches and tunnels under the church each year to follow firsthand the footsteps of an unknown number of slaves who used the basement of the church as an oasis before resuming their quest for freedom.

According to oral history passed down through generations, a slave named Samuel Denson escaped from a plantation in Vicksburg, Miss., and traveled along the Underground Railroad until he reached Cumberland. For unknown reasons, Denson, then just about 14 years old, stopped running. He was offered a job as church janitor by the Rev. Hillhouse Buell.

Buell was from New York and a known sympathizer to slaves. By hiring Denson, Buell risked his own freedom and social standing.

Buell, Chapman said, “was white and prominent ... he is likely to have been able to afford a good attorney. He probably would not end up serving more than a few decades in prison” if he’d been caught.


More here-

http://www.times-news.com/local/local_story_052233648.html

Out of the abyss of individualism

From The London Guardian-

Human beings begin their lives in a state of dependence. They need to learn how to speak, to trust, to negotiate a world that isn't always friendly, and involves unavoidable limitations. They need an environment secure enough for them to take the necessary risks of learning – where they know there are some relationships that don't depend on getting things right, but are unconditional. The family is the indispensable foundation for all this.

We are also beings who take in more than we can easily process from the world around us; we know more than we realise, and that helps us to become self-questioning persons who are always aware things could be different. We learn this as children through fantasy and play, we keep it alive as adults through all sorts of "unproductive" activity, from sport to poetry. It is the extra things that make us human.

This is closely connected with understanding and sympathy for others. If you live in a world where everything encourages you to struggle for your own individual interest and success, you are encouraged to ignore the reality of other points of view – ultimately, to ignore the cost, or the pain of others. The result may be a world where people are articulate about their own feelings and pretty illiterate about those of others. An economic climate based on nothing but calculations of self-interest, fed by a distorted version of Darwinism, doesn't build a habitat for human beings; at best it builds a sort of fortified box room for paranoiacs.

What is encouraging is how few people seem to want a society composed of people like this. We have, to some extent, looked into the abyss where individualism is concerned and we know that it won't do. This is a moment when every possible agency in civil society needs to reinforce its commitment to a world where thoughtful empathy is a normal aspect of the mature man or woman. And of course without that, there will be no imaginative life, no thinking what might be different.

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/21/individualism-virtue-public-discourse

Eblen: Churches join to honor former slave

From Kentucky-

The Rev. London Ferrill spent much of his life serving as a bridge between Lexington's black and white communities. Now, 156 years after his death, he is doing it again.

Ferrill may have been the most famous man in Lexington you've probably never heard of.
Born into slavery in Virginia in 1789 and later freed, he was an influential preacher in the black community here. His funeral procession of nearly 5,000 people in 1854 was the second-largest the city had ever seen, after Henry Clay's two years earlier.

The Episcopal Church has invited First African Baptist Church to services Saturday honoring the memory of Ferrill, the only black man buried in the Old Episcopal Burying Ground on East Third Street.

The Most Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the national Episcopal Church, will be among the speakers at the 1:30 p.m. service at Christ Church Cathedral on Market Street.
Choirs from local Episcopal churches and First African Baptist will perform, and the program will include a new composition that John Linker, Good Shepherd Episcopal Church's organist and choirmaster, wrote to accompany the text of a prayer attributed to Ferrill.

Ministers will dedicate the plaque for a monument honoring Ferrill that will be placed in the cemetery later this year. And Ferrill's broken tombstone formally will be given to First African Baptist, where it has been on display for two decades.

These and other efforts to commemorate Ferrill are an attempt at reconciliation, said Robert Voll, a member of Christ Church who oversees the cemetery.


More here-

http://www.kentucky.com/2010/02/21/1149657/after-156-years-this-bridge-stands.html

Rector charged again with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse

From Central New York-

Another sexual abuse charge has been filed against Ralph E. Johnson, a former rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Owego.

Pennsylvania State Police in Gibson have charged Johnson, 82, with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, a felony. He is accused of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy in 2001, according to police records.

The latest charge was filed after the incident was reported to police Feb. 7 -- 3 days after Johnson was charged in another case alleging sexual abuse of a boy.

Those charges include 15 counts of deviate sexual intercourse, a felony; 15 counts of indecent assault, a misdemeanor; and 15 counts of corruption of minors, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from incidents between 1992 and 1995 at Johnson's home in Gibson Township, Pa., with a victim between the ages of 11 and 15, according to police records.

Johnson was the rector at St. Paul's from 1970 to 1977 and was active with the Episcopal church since his ordination in 1962.

In May 2006, Johnson voluntarily surrendered his ministerial orders to Gladstone B. Adams, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, without admitting guilt to sexual abuse allegations.

More here-

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100221/NEWS01/2210370/1112/Rector-charged-again-with-involuntary-deviate-sexual-intercourse

Declining membership hurts Episcopal churches in Northern California

From Sacramento-

She sings the litany. He delivers the sermon.

It is Sunday morning at All Saints Episcopal Church in Sacramento and both the Revs. Michael and Betsey Monnot preside over the worship services, one of several ways the church keeps down expenses.

"We trade off duties every week," said Betsey Monnot.

The two priests, who are married and have two children and another due in three weeks, said the church could afford one full-time clergyperson. So they agreed to job-share and serve as co-rectors.

"When you're a small church, you have to be creative," said Michael Monnot.
He echoes a message that Bishop Barry Beisner has been delivering to the members of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California.

Faced with declining membership and less money to pay salaries and maintain aging buildings, Beisner is calling on staff and laity to come up with new ways of keeping their church doors open.

More here-

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/02/22/2554285/declining-membership-hurts-episcopal.html

Surgeon-priest brings together religion and science

From Georgia-

Healing the sick doesn't always require a medical degree, says the Rev. Dr. Talmadge A. "Joe" Bowden.

The surgeon and Episcopal priest believes all of humanity is called by God to care for each other. Sometimes, that can be as simple as telling someone you've been thinking about them.

"If someone calls you up and tells you 'I miss you,' man, if that don't make your immune proteins jump up in the air, nothing will," he said. "It's concern, like when Jesus talks about compassion."

Bowden brings his message on the ways in which religion and medical science are working together to St. Peter's Episcopal Church on Feb. 27.

The half-day discussion titled "Religion and Health: Separate or One?" marks the Skidaway Island church's fourth annual spirituality and health workshop.

Bowden is chief of general and vascular surgery at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Administration Medical Center and emeritus professor of surgery at the Medical College of Georgia.

He's also an Episcopal priest and an assisting priest at two parishes in Augusta.

More here-

http://savannahnow.com/accent/2010-02-20/surgeon-priest-brings-together-religion-and-science

Married Catholic priest will be Nashville diocese's first

From Nashville-

Prentice Dean will be ordained as a Catholic priest on Monday — while his wife watches.

The former Episcopal priest and father of two will become the first married priest in the Nashville diocese.

He resigned from the Episcopal Church because he thought the denomination had moved away from traditional Christianity. He converted to Catholicism five years ago, and, after Monday, he'll be celebrating Mass, hearing confessions and handling all the responsibilities of a priest.

Since the 1980s, the Roman Catholic Church has allowed former Episcopal priests, like Dean, to be ordained under a special provision. Church leaders say the provision is an act of grace toward converts. But some wonder why that same grace isn't extended to former Catholic priests who left the ministry to marry.

Right now, about 100 married former Episcopal priests have been ordained. Still, the vast majority of the more than 40,000 priests in the United States are celibate.

The tradition of celibacy is rooted in the Bible. Jesus never married, and the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that marriage is a distraction from serving God.

Eventually, Christians were divided on the issue. Greek-speaking Christians allowed priests to marry before they were ordained. Latin-speaking Christians, on the other hand, required celibacy.

That split continues today. Roman Catholics from the Latin rite tradition, which includes most of the world's Catholics, require celibacy. But Eastern Rite Catholics allow married men to become priests, as do Orthodox Christians.

More here-

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100221/NEWS06/2210372/Married+Catholic+priest+will+be+Nashville+diocese+s+first+

Replacing Springfield Episcopal bishop could be contentious process

From Illinois-

Springfield’s Episcopal Church diocese will be under national scrutiny as it seeks a successor for Bishop Peter Beckwith.

Beckwith has allied himself with the conservative wing of the broader Anglican umbrella, and the timing of his retirement, which took effect Feb. 1, caught many in the church off guard.

Diocesan officials believe they can adhere to a timeline that will result in consecration of a new bishop by March 2011. But knotty problems may lie ahead, particularly because whomever local Episcoplians choose as their new bishop must also be approved by a majority of U.S. bishops and standing committees — delegates from Episcopal dioceses around the country.

“It’s a hugely messy situation,” said David Virtue of VirtueOnline, an orthodox Anglican Web site. “A search for his replacement will be ugly in the extreme.”

“Usually these votes are pro forma,” said the Very Rev. John Bettman, vicar of St. Paul’s Church in Carlinville. “But the church is so polarized nationally, (the candidate) might be a problem now.”

Beckwith, who was consecrated in Springfield 18 years ago, retired two years before the mandatory age of 72. He thinks the transition will be smoother than critics believe.

“Ugly? I don’t think much of that assessment,” Beckwith said in an interview at his Springfield home. “I have more confidence in the clergy and people than that.

“I’ve told people you’re going to get the bishop that you deserve.”

More here-

http://www.sj-r.com/beliefs/x723437514/Replacing-Springfield-Episcopal-bishop-could-be-contentious-process

Pastors Go Part Time As Way To Help Financially Struggling Churches

From New York-

One pulpit, shared by two part-time ministers who happen to be married.

The temporary arrangement has been the answer to a prayer for Christ Episcopal Church, whose members had been searching for a part-time priest to lead them spiritually without strapping them financially.

For the Revs. Randall Balmer and Catharine Randall, whose careers as college professors, writers and public speakers keep them plenty busy, the arrangement with this small but devoted congregation satisfies a spiritual need the couple have longed to fill.

"What is so great about it is immediately, they understood that we were a team ... working together," said Balmer, a prize-winning historian who has written a dozen books on faith and religion and is professor of American religious history at Barnard College in New York City and a visiting professor at Dartmouth College. "I love being a professor and a priest. For me, one informs the other."

"It's wonderful; I'm so happy," said Catharine Randall, a professor of French at Fordham University in New York and the author of eight scholarly books and several articles and publications related to religion and spirituality. "I love doing this with Randy. I think it works well. We are very much in love with each other, and we are very compatible and very in tune with what each other is thinking."

Even their lengthy commutes — between their home in Woodbury, university teaching jobs in New York and New Hampshire, and the church in East Hampton — don't get in way of their commitment.

More here-

http://articles.courant.com/2010-02-19/community/hc-east-hampton-ministers-0220.artfeb19_1_full-time-pastor-barry-edmonds-part-time

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, Miss., Hearers Of The Word column: Religious diversity shapes a week in Tupelo

From Mississippi-

Once in a while, amid the random assignments I follow each week, a pattern emerges. During a five day stretch I might interview a rodeo cowboy, a priest and city official. It almost sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn't it? But, sometimes, the narrative thread emerges in bright brilliance, like the Aurora Borealis.

I started last week by opening a conversation with Tupelo's first formal gathering of Muslims.

I'd known for two months that they were here, and I'd been looking for a chance to get out and meet them. As this week's feature indicates, they received me with open arms and even invited me to pray alongside them.

A few days later I was invited behind the scenes at the 183rd Annual Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.

Before the opening of the council, Bishop Duncan Gray III was holed up in a quiet room deep in the arena, going over his notes and trying to avoid being hassled by media types like me.

He was very gracious, and when I saw him leading his diocese later that night during the opening service I was thankful to have spent some quiet time with him. We talked about everything from football to the philosophy of Friedrich Hegel.

A week later I was once again in the arena for the 47th Annual Charity Ball. My friend Scott Morris had done most of the heavy lifting for the story and all I had to do was go and enjoy myself and get a little scenery for the article.

More here-

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/djco_northeast-mississippi-daily-journal-tupelo-miss-hearers-of-the-word-column-religious-diversity--791960.html

Vatican releases list of top ten rock albums

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department- (Vatican Division)

The Vatican's once-stodgy daily newspaper, "L'Osservatore Romano" has published a list of the best rock albums of all time. They are as follows:

The Beatles' "Revolver"

Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon"

Oasis' "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?"

Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

U2's "Achtung Baby"

Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours"

Donald Fagen's "The Nightfly"

Carlos Santana's "Supernatural"

Paul Simon's "Graceland"

David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name"

The inclusion of “Revolver” on the list comes as a bit of a surprise, since John Lennon once ruffled some ecclesiastic feathers by remarking, “The Beatles are bigger than Jesus.” However, the Vatican music critic may have been swayed by the fact that George Harrison was raised Catholic, and Paul McCartney included a reference to a priest on the Revolver track, “Eleanor Rigby.” Of course, Father McKenzie may have been an Anglican priest, but McCartney nevertheless portrayed the cleric in a sympathetic light.

Besides Harrison, several other rock stars on the Vatican’s list were baptised into the Roman faith as infants. Liam and Noel Gallagher (of Oasis) were brought up Catholic, as was Carlos Santana. U2’s Bono was deliberately raised both Catholic and Protestant by his well-meaning Irish parents, and he is too politically correct to align himself directly with either church. But he has been known to hang out with popes and carry rosaries.

Michael Jackson’s inclusion of zombies in his “Thriller” video irked some members of his own church, the Jehovah Witnesses. But apparently, Rome takes a gentler view of the late genius’ cinematic work.

Surprisingly, some notable (or nominal) Catholic musicians did NOT make the Vatican’s list, including Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Ray and Dave Davies (of the Kinks), Elvis Costello, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. But then again, they really don't need the attention. They’re all rock gods anyway.

http://www.examiner.com/x-25267-Anaheim-Cultural-Events-Examiner~y2010m2d19-Vatican-releases-list-of-top-ten-rock-albums

Archbishop of Canterbury to visit Holy Land

From The BBC-

The Archbishop of Canterbury is starting a four-day visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Dr Rowan Williams will meet Anglicans in Jerusalem and lead the latest talks with the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

He recently called for tolerance on all sides within the Anglican Communion on divisive issues.
He told the General Synod "megaphone tones" were being used, and said it was easy in such debates to use careless language and cause damage.

Marginalised

The Archbishop will be accompanied for the duration of the visit by the Rt Rev Bishop Michael Jackson, the Anglican chair to the Anglican-Jewish Commission. The trip will last until Tuesday.
Earlier this month the President-Bishop of the Episcopal Church province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Revd Mouneer Anis, resigned.

He stepped down from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion accusing those who "sing praises of inclusiveness" of double standards.

He said: "While emphasising the importance of caring for the marginalised in our communities, like the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community, the orthodox Anglicans are being marginalised."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8525559.stm

Church looking to give more to feed kids

From Kansas-

Volunteers and USD-379 officials want to include more kids in the Back Snacks program and the Episcopal Church wants to feed more kids over the summer in the Kids Cafe, Episcopal Church volunteer Donna Long said. Both programs are supported by Episcopal Church volunteers and Harvesters Food Bank of Kansas City.

"There has been a lot of interest in it, (Back Snacks) has been very well received, and that's great," Long said.

Back Snacks provides individual servings of shelf-safe food for kids to take home to eat over the weekend.

The church is hoping next year to increase the allocation of kid-friendly food to give to kids to take home. This year they've received as much as last year, but see a great need there, Long said.

More than 50 percent of kids at Lincoln Elementary are on free or reduced lunches, according to school district, and Garfield Elementary also has a significant number of kids eligible for free and reduced lunches.

While being on free or reduced lunches is not the sole criteria for receiving Back Snacks - teachers can give them to kids who aren't on free or reduced lunches if they see a need - the large number of kids on free or reduced lunches illustrates a large need there.

More here-

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20411401&BRD=1160&PAG=461&dept_id=190958&rfi=6

Episcopal Bishop Henry N. Parsley reflects on humility during Lent

From Alabama-

Some people give up something for Lent, like a favorite food.

Alabama Episcopal Bishop Henry N. Parsley brings something extra with him during Lent.
"I carry a stone in my pocket," Parsley said on Ash Wednesday as he opened the Lenten preaching series at Cathedral Church of the Advent. He held it in his fingers and showed it to the congregation as he stood in the pulpit. "It reminds me I have no right or need to cast the first stone. I'm no less a sinner than anyone else."

Lent is the penitential season leading up to Easter, which will be celebrated by most Christians this year on April 4. It's a season of 40 days, not counting Sundays, in which the church urges penitence and self-examination.

"The season of Lent is meant to bring us to review our sinfulness," Parsley said. "It's simply knowing that you're mortal and fallible and not God."

Giving up meat or chocolate or carrying a stone are practices meant to serve as reminders.

More here-

http://blog.al.com/living-news/2010/02/episcopal_bishop_henry_n_parsl.html

Executive Council begins four-day Omaha meeting

From Episcopal Life Online-

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council began its four-day meeting here Feb. 19 by getting briefings on the work it faces and by hearing a renewed call for the church to stand with its Diocese of Haiti.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori also told the council that tension is mounting in the Diocese of South Carolina over efforts to ascertain the diocese's plans for dealing with disaffected Episcopalians.

The Feb. 19-22 meeting at the Omaha Hilton is taking place in the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska. Council will hear about the mission and ministry of the diocese on the evening of Feb. 21.

Council members spent the morning of Feb. 19 in plenary session and broke into committees in the afternoon. Those committee meetings will continue all day on Feb. 20. Council reorganized itself during its last meeting in Memphis, Tennessee, into five new standing committees: Local Mission (LM), Advocacy and Networking for Mission (A&N), World Mission (WM), Governance and Administration for Mission (GAM) and Finances for Mission (FFM).

In her opening remarks to the council, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, council president, told the members that relatively few people, including Episcopalians, know that the Diocese of Haiti is the numerically largest diocese in the Episcopal Church with some 200,000 members.

"Our destinies and, I would say, our salvation are tied up with each other," Jefferts Schori said of Haiti and the rest of the church, especially since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. "How we continue to respond in solidarity and partnership and in Christian fellowship with the people of Haiti in the coming years is of immense importance."

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_119606_ENG_HTM.htm

New Lutheran denomination now has a name

From The Washington Times-

We've been waiting several months now for this new "reconfiguration of Lutheranism in North America" promised us by Lutheran CORE, which is overseeing the formation of an alternative to members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA, as you may remember from last August, voted back then to allow gay clergy and opened the doors to same-sex unions further down the road.

Today, on the anniversary of Martin Luther's death (in 1546), CORE has announced the denomination-to-be will be called the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). More concrete deliberations will happen during Lutheran CORE’s 2010 convocation Aug. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio, so for now the proposal is on the table for discussion. Read CORE's press release here.

It appears as though they'll have at least some congregations willing to sign up with the NALC. Congregations around the country are already taking votes on whether to leave the ELCA. A widely circulated e-mail from ELCA Secretary David Swartling reports that, as of Feb. 3, 220 congregations in 49 of the ELCA’s 65 synods have taken votes to leave the ELCA. Of that 229, 156 congregations had attained the necessary two-thirds majority on the first ballot.

Note: Two votes at least 90 days apart — each receiving a two-thirds majority — are required for a congregation to leave the ELCA. All of those votes attained the two-thirds majority for the congregation to leave the ELCA. However, 28 congregations is a drop in the bucket compared to the many times larger ELCA, as pointed out in this blog.

So it's true NALC's beginnings may be humble. But detractors should take note of what's happened to the breakaway Anglican Church in North America that has pulled away from the Episcopal Church. The ACNA is gaining members; the Episcopal Church is about to drop below 2 million as early as next year. So, don't write off the NALC yet.

http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2010/feb/18/new-lutheran-denomination-now-has-a-name/

Uganda: Christians and Muslims protest Gay Porn shown in churches

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

A cross section of Christians in Uganda have protested against the showing of pornography in churches as one way of making the public get aware of what gays do.
This follows the chairman of national task force against sodomy, pastor Martin Ssempa launching a programme of showing ’gays in action’ videos in churches.

Wednesday pastor Ssempa showed a video to over 100 Christians in a church located in a Kampala suburb called Kisenyi located 4 kilometers from the city centre. The pictures were showing gay couples playing sex..

Anglican church senior priest, Rev Canon John Kapetwa said that showing such video in church is outrageous. "It is unbelievable that a pastor is showing Christians such videos in church. Although most of us do not support homosexuality, it is not fit to show their dirty activities to Christians in Church," he said.

A Muslim leader in eastern Uganda, shiek Abdul Twawula said that although he is a Muslim, he is aware that a house of God of any religion should be respected. He said, "Ssempa should not show such pictures in the Church. The house of God should be respected."

Catholic priest, Father Richard Mujumba said that it is the first time he is learning of a pornographic video being shown in church. "I have never heard about such a thing in my life. Church leaders should always think twice before taking any action. I condemn the showing of such videos in Church."

More here-

http://en.afrik.com/article16977.html

Anglicans Urge 'Carbon Fast' for Lent, Pope Urges Renewal

From Florida-

Several prominent Anglican British bishops are urging Christians to keep their carbon consumption in check this Lent.

The 40-day period of penitence before Easter typically sees observant Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians give up meat, alcohol or chocolates.

But this year's initiative aims to convince those observing Lent to try a day without an iPod or mobile phone in a bid to reduce the use of electricity - and thus trim the amount of carbon dioxide spewed into the atmosphere.

Bishop of London Rev. Richard Chartres said that the poorest people in developing countries were the hardest hit by man-made climate change.

He said Tuesday that the "Carbon Fast" was "an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God in a practical way."

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI marked the start of the solemn Lenten season by sprinkling ashes on the bowed heads of faithful in a Roman Catholic tradition.

Ash Wednesday services for Roman Catholics worldwide usher in a period of penitence and reflection that leads up to Easter Sunday, this year being celebrated on April 4.

Benedict pinched a bit of ash from a silver-colored bowl held out to him by an aide, and then distributed the ashes to prelates, other clergy and lay people, including children, who approached him one by one in St. Sabina's Basilica on Rome's ancient Aventine Hill.

More here-

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=152221&catid=6

WASHINGTON: Christian-Muslim Summit will launch diplomatic initiatives to end violence

From Episcopal Life Online-

Delegations consisting of leaders from Anglican, Shi'a, Sunni and Catholic faith traditions will convene March 1-3 at Washington National Cathedral to discuss reconciliation between Islam and the West.

Four principals from each faith, along with five eminent religious leaders and experts from each of their respective religious communities, will strategize on how to use their influence within their governments to promote peace efforts worldwide.

The four principal leaders are:

Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi, professor of law at Shaid Beheshti University in Tehran;
Professor Dr. Ahmad Mohamed El Tayeb, president of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt;
His Eminence Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; and
The Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, eighth bishop of Washington.
Chane has traveled to Iran on numerous occasions as an invited guest of former President Mohammad Khatami, speaking to and studying with numerous religious leaders at seminaries and universities in the cities of Tehran and Qom.

On the evening of March 3 at 7 p.m. the Christian-Muslim Summit will conclude with a public dialogue among the participants for invited guests in the cathedral nave.

Detailed biographies of the four participants, a list of "The Twenty" delegates and more information on the summit are available here.

The Anglican Communion delegation includes:

Clare Amos, director of theological studies in the Anglican Communion Office, London;
The Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Anglican bishop in Jerusalem;
The Rt. Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Anglican bishop of Kaduna, Nigeria; and
The Rt. Rev. Pierre W. Whalon, bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.

The Honorable Kjell Magne Bondevik, founder and president of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and the former prime minister of Norway, will also join the Anglican delegation. Bondevik is an ordained priest in the Lutheran Church of Norway, which through the Porvoo Agreement, is in full communion with the Anglican churches in the U.K. and Ireland.

More here-

http://www.episcopal-life.org/81803_119554_ENG_HTM.htm