March 30, 2013
This is The Lead on Episcopal Cafe today. If you watch the video on the link, I’d be interested in your responses:
DOMA, Proposition 8 and the Easter story
John Fugelsang draws a contemporary parallel to the story of the Passion and Resurrection in this commentary. Does its analogy hold up for you?
July 1, 2010
Having shared Jim Richardson’s thoughtful comments when this first broke, I thought this follow up in the Sacramento Bee was worth sharing.
April 13, 2010
This from the Associated Press Via the Episcopal Cafe Lead (it was posted by Jim Naughton):
The Associated Press tells this horrific story via the Boston Herald:
THIES, Senegal — Even death cannot stop the violence against gays in this corner of the world any more.Madieye Diallo’s body had been in the ground for only a few hours when the mob descended on the weedy cemetery with shovels. They yanked out the corpse, spit on its torso, dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents.
The scene of May 2, 2009 was filmed on a cell phone and the video sold at the market. It passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men who say they now feel like hunted animals.
There are people who will tell you with a straight face a) that it is culturally imperialistic to attempt to change the kinds of attitudes that inform this violence and b) that no member church in the Anglican Communion has any business ordaining LGBT priests and bishops until such attitudes change.
March 8, 2010
James Richardson wrote a thoughtful piece on this in his blog. You can find the article here. I think it’s worth reading.
March 3, 2010
That’s “The Lead” at Episcopal Cafe. This happened on a 95 to 21 vote (with 74 needed to approve). If I understand correctly, this means that all churches that want to can perform civil or religious ceremonies for same-sex couples. No church has to do this. And it means that some individual congregations (including congregations from the Church of England) can perform such marriages, without the Church of England ever having approved them. This is because the head of the Church of England is the Queen, and some decisions about what the church can or cannot do (like approving a new Prayer Book) are effectively decided in Parliament. It’s really very interesting how this works. And it changes the landscape on this question in England.
March 2, 2010
I read an article from the New York Times, seemingly from a religious conservative, this past week. And the tone was along the lines that if we could just stop fixating on sexuality, maybe conservatives and liberals in the church (in the broadest sense) could focus on real Christian ministry. Jeremiah talked about the real sin of Sodom being their unwillingness to share what they had with those in need. And conservatives have begun to focus, perhaps, less on their personal faith, and more on living up to the gospel. They have been challenged from within to start doing a better job of responding to the desperate needs of the world around them in God’s name. (more…)
December 9, 2009
The proposed Ugandan laws opposing homosesuality (and support of homosexual persons) has also been addressed by our Presiding Bishop. The report in Episcopal Life Online begins:
[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Dec. 4 that the church believes “the public scapegoating of any category of persons, in any context, is anathema” and thus is “deeply concerned” about a proposed Ugandan law that would introduce the death penalty for people who violate that country’s anti-homosexuality laws.Jefferts Schori also noted in her statement that “much of the current climate of fear, rejection, and antagonism toward gay and lesbian persons in African nations has been stirred by members and former members of our own church.”
“We note further that attempts to export the culture wars of North America to another context represent the very worst of colonial behavior,” she said. “We deeply lament this reality, and repent of any way in which we have participated in this sin.”
You can see the whole article here.
November 20, 2009
This comes from Episcopal Cafe. It’s a follow up on my earlier posting on the same legislation:
A special session of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church has been called to discuss the church's position on the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” currently before the Ugandan Parliament. The meeting will be conducted via conference call on the afternoon of December 7, according to numerous sources.
Special sessions of Executive Council can be called by the Presiding Bishop or, as in this instance, by a petition signed by at least nine members of the council. (more…)
October 20, 2009
This is also from Episcopal Cafe:
Cynthia Black writing at Walking with Integrity reports on proposed new anti-gay laws in Uganda:
A bill has been introduced to the Uganda parliament that would, among other things, provide a three year prison term for anyone who fails to report the names of those they know to be LGBT (and those they know who are heterosexual who support human rights for LGBT people) to authorities. … The same bill would make it a crime for any Ugandan citizen, whether or not they live in Uganda, to be gay. (more…)
October 20, 2009
It may be a while before anybody can speak with any real knowledge about the impact of the development described in the story below, which contain a major error in its first paragraph. (more…)
Stories of Ministry and Doings of St. George's Episcopal Church in Carmichael
WordPress.com is the best place for your personal blog or business site.
Becoming a Bat Mitzvah in one's fifties, and other midlife leaps of faith
The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth) 