Episcopal and Anglican's topics - tribe.net

a call to Christians

Margot — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:43:32 GMT

Please act on this to stop government-sanctioned torture.

“The thought of Jesus being stripped, beaten and derided until his final agony on the cross should always prompt a Christian to protest against similar treatment of their fellow beings. Of their own accord, disciples of Christ will reject torture, which nothing can justify, which causes humiliation and suffering to the victim and degrades the tormentor.”
--Pope John Paul II

You are invited to join a new tribe dedicated to completely ending the United States of America's unconstitutional and immoral practice of and collusion in torture.

http://tribes.tribe.net/stopalltorture

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 4 replies

Presiding Bishop Reports on Primates' Meeting on Same-Gender Issues

Jimi — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:39:55 GMT

Time to slow down and rest in God, Jefferts Schori says

By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Friday, February 23, 2007

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on February 23 told the community of people who work at the Episcopal Church Center in New York that the new structures asked for by the primates in Dar es Salaam, and the clarifications they want about the Episcopal Church’s stance on blessing same-gender relationships and partnered gay and lesbian priests becoming bishops, can be a “container” in which the Anglican Communion can continue to discuss issues that many Anglicans would rather avoid.
An mp3 audio recording of Jefferts Schori’s statement is available here. The text of the Primates’ Communiqué is available here.

She told the gathering that the Episcopal Church is called to ensure that the conversation about the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church continues in the Communion.

“It is part of our mission as a church,” she said. “This conversation that has been going on for at least 40 years is not going away. God keeps bringing it back to us.”

Jefferts Schori said that she understands that some people feel that the primates’ recommendations are a “hard and bitter pill for many of us to talk about swallowing.” But, she said, worldwide attitudes about the inclusion of gay and lesbian people are changing and “I don’t expect that to end.”

“We’re being asked to pause in the journey. We are not being asked to go back,” she said. “Time and history are with this Church.”

Jefferts Schori said “I ache for the pain that this communiqué is causing to people in our own church who see issues of justice as absolutely central, because I share that view. I also hunger for a vision of the world where people with vastly different opinions can sit at the same table and worship at the same table because I think that eventually that is how all of us are converted.”

She said that her understanding of the Body of Christ is that “none of us can say that we have no need of you.” She acknowledged that “we don’t always like the people God gives us.”

The “low point” of the Primates’ Meeting came, Jefferts Schori said, when one primate equated homosexuality with pedophilia and another said he couldn’t see why the Anglican Communion should study homosexuality if it doesn’t need to study murder.

“We have a very, very long way to go in raising awareness so that reason can become an equal partner in the discussion with scripture and tradition,” she said. “I think that that is one of the gifts that this church has to give to the world.”

“The reality, I believe, is that the Archbishop of Canterbury will respect whatever the primates decide, whether or not that accurately reflects the polity of the Anglican Communion,” Jefferts Schori said.

“I don’t know if our church is ready to say to the rest of the Communion what’s been asked of us. I don’t know that,” she said. “I do know that if we’re removed from a place where we can speak to the rest of the Communion, we’re going to lose that advantage of being there at the table to challenge views like that.”

The value of continued conversation, especially conversation with gay Christians, is that people are then faced with the incarnational reality of something that up until that point had only been a theory, she said. Often, she said, conversion happens.

In the Anglican Communion there are member provinces that more or less agree with the Episcopal Church’s stance that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are full and welcomed members of the church, Jefferts Schori said, and some who are “very close” to being able to agree. Then there is a “vast group” who do not see the question as their “defining issue.”

And there are “a few neuralgic places in the Communion that have discovered that this is their defining issue – I think with encouragement from some people in our own Church,” she said.

During a question-and-answer session following her statement, Jefferts Schori said that the primates’ plan for a primatial vicar is similar to one she and other bishops proposed last November—with the addition of an accompanying supervisory pastoral council.

“What is different is a structure of accountability,” she said, but she called that structure “manageable,” noting that she would appoint some of the council’s members and must consent to the choice of the vicar.

She said that a “saving grace” of the primatial vicar proposal is that it would eventually end the incursion of other primates into the Episcopal Church.

She said that the House of Bishops can answer the requests made by the primates. Those include stating that they will not authorize official rites for same-gender blessings, and will not consent to the consecration and ordination of partnered gay or lesbian people as bishops “unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.” (Those requests echo recommendations in paragraphs 143, 144 and 134 of the Windsor Report.)

While the bishops can indeed agree to do those things, Jefferts Schori said, “whether they have the will to do that, I don’t know.” Very few of the bishops are interested in acting “unilaterally,” she added.

Their decision will not come during the House of Bishops meeting that begins on March 16 at Camp Allen, outside of Houston, Texas, she predicted. They will discuss the communiqué in March, as will the Executive Council, which meets March 2-4 in Portland, Oregon. The Executive Council meets again in June and the bishops will meet again in September in a previously scheduled gathering, before the September 30 deadline for a response set by the primates.

In between, Jefferts Schori said, efforts are underway for conversations about the communiqué to be held this summer in dioceses around the Episcopal Church. Those conversations will be meant for the bishops to hear what is being said among the people of their dioceses and for the bishops to teach about the nature of Anglicanism.

She said that gay clergy have asked her in the last six months “when, when” they will be able to fully offer their gifts to the church as bishops.

“I have not been able to answer,” she said, adding that the Episcopal Church “has a choice ahead of it.”

But “I don’t believe that this church has any will or desire to abandon you,” Jefferts Schori told a Church Center staff member who said he was speaking to her, in part, as a gay priest.

“I know where my heart lies and it’s in a divided place,” she said, explaining that she hungers to affirm the place of gays and lesbians in the church and she hungers to “see this body reconciled.”

“In my better moments, I firmly hope and pray that these things are not diametrically opposed.”

“I fully recognize that this is a heavy time for most of us, but what better way to start Lent? I think it’s a time for us to slow down, to rest in God—which is the only place we can rest—and to realize that we’re not deciding today,” she said. “Whatever we decide, God will continue to be God and this church will continue to be engaged in mission.”

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

Eucharest

Carol — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:04:53 GMT

I attended Anglican church as a child, was baptized a few years ago in a non-denominational church.
My husband is in the process of being confirmed in the Catholic church. I am just not interested in the Catholic church and have been considering attending our local Episcopalian church.
My question is - can I take communion when I go the the Episcopalian church or is it like the Catholic church and I have to prove that I was baptized first?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 4 replies

BBC Profile of bigoted schism-mongering Archbishop Akinola

Jimi — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:12:29 GMT

Peter Akinola, 63, leads 37 million Anglicans as chair of the Anglican Church in Africa.
As head of the fastest growing part of the Anglican communion, he is becoming an increasingly important figure.

His growing influence is largely due to his conservative stance on gay marriage, a position that appeals to his African congregation.

Recently, two of the oldest and largest church congregations in the US voted to bring themselves under his authority.

On Sunday, 90% of members of Truro Church and Falls Church in Northern Virginia voted to leave the American Episcopal church, amid a row over the ordination of gay priests.

'Creeping in'

Archbishop Akinola - a man known for his outspoken views on homosexuality - says he is thankful to God over the decision.

"Once there's a crack in the wall, you are likely to have all sorts creeping in" he told the BBC News website in Abuja.

"When we began to notice these cracks a few years back, we did try as much as humanly possible under God to patch up these cracks," he added.

But, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Ecusa) refused to back down.

"Since the leadership of the church in America keeps doing everything we thought they would not do, those who don't agree with them have chosen to go where they want to go and I thank God," he said.

New template

A father of six, he describes himself as "an ordinary pastor in the church of God" but chosen by God to protect the scriptures.

Never the one to shy away from controversy, Bishop Akinola's strong views and public criticism of government policies quickly made him popular among Nigerian Christians and led to his election as head of the powerful Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella organisation for all Nigerian christian groups.

Born in Abeaokuta in south-western Nigeria in 1944, Mr Akinola is popular for his unique understanding of African cultures which he always related with parallels from the Bible's Old Testament.
Abeokuta was the birth place of another promient Anglican cleric, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a former slave who became Nigeria's first indigenous Anglican bishop. Loved and respected by his Anglican congregation and other Christian bodies in the country, Mr Akinola is a staunch supporter of Nigeria's anti-graft agency which has been criticised for its alleged "selective" fight against corruption.

However, some within the Anglican Church say he is backed by conservative bishops and theologians who seek to dominate the Anglican Church in America.

"I object to that very strongly and I condemn with every nerve in my body such insinuations," the archbishop told the BBC angrily.

"The Church of Nigeria has a well known position on this matter," he added, while accusing Ecusa of denying the authority and supremacy of the scripture.

He said the American church was trying to create a new religious template and expecting everybody to log on to that template.

"The liturgy of the church and the scripture on which we base our practices and beliefs do not agree with gay marriage and we cannot accept it," he stated categorically.

Growing power

Called a bigot by some in the Anglican Church, his attitudes nonetheless represent a deep-rooted conservative tradition in African Christianity that is flourishing and growing.

Contrast that with declining congregations in the West and you begin to see why he is such an important figure, says the BBC's religious affairs reporter, Rahul Tandon.

Initially he proposed that Nigerians in America who oppose what they see as the Episcopal Church's liberal attitude could join a branch of his church in the US.

Now it seems some US congregations are keen to do the same.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will be watching with some concern, our correspondent says.

Peter Akinola's growing power could well lead to a schism within the Anglican communion, he says.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6190751.stm

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

California Bishop Andrus arrested during San Francisco war protest

Jimi — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 11:33:45 GMT

This is sort of old news, but many who are not part of the Diocese of California might not know about it. I personally think our new bishop rocks!

California bishop arrested during San Francisco war protest

By Mary Frances Schjonberg
Friday, December 08, 2006

Bishop of California Marc Andrus protests the deaths caused by the Iraq war by blocking the entrance to the federal building in San Francisco December 7.

[Episcopal News Service] Bishop Marc Handley Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California was arrested December 7 for blocking the front door of the San Francisco federal building to protest the deaths caused by the Iraq war.

His participation in the protest and his arrest are "just one piece of a sustained effort" to work for peace, Andrus told ENS December 8.
Other parts of the effort include other liturgical events, diocesan participation in the upcoming release of a documentary about four soldiers who sought conscientious objector status, and the possibility of having Episcopalians participate in a Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) trip to Iran.

Andrus said that his protest sprang not just from his own convictions about the war but "from a base of considered opinion by the House of Bishops and the Episcopal Church about this war."

"It's not a capricious act, but it is my conviction that while there's widespread opposition to this war, that the elected leaders need to know that we continue to want concerted and active moves towards peace," he said.

Andrus, carrying his crosier and singing "Down by the Riverside,'' was among 250 protesters, including members of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and people of other faiths, who had marched from Grace Cathedral, on Nob Hill, to join the monthly "die-in" on Golden Gate Avenue near City Hall.

The protest was meant to "memorialize all who have died as a result of U.S. led hostilities in Iraq," according to a November 29 invitation to the protest posted on the diocese's website.

The bishop celebrated a requiem Holy Eucharist at the plaza in front of the building. After they received communion about two dozen participants went one by one to lie down in front of the federal building's two main doors. Andrus was the first protestor to do so. Federal Protective Service officers began arresting protesters for lying down and blocking the building's two main doors.

Officers placed Andrus in handcuffs–as one said, "How are you?'' and shook the bishop's hand—according to a December 7 article on the San Francisco Chronicle's website.

Protesters applauded, cheered and sang as Andrus was photographed by another officer and led inside the building.

He and 11 other protesters were detained in a room inside the federal building for about two hours, according to diocesan spokesman Sean McConnell. They were cited for unlawful assembly and told they could either pay the charge's $125 fine or appear in court at a later date. All 12 decided to appear in court, McConnell said.

Andrus said the decision was made as a way for the group to continue its protest by pleading not guilty "because of our sense that international law and the unjust nature of this war required civil disobedience."

In the November 29 invitation, Andrus wrote that "at the Eucharistic table we become aware of this divine reality, that while humans may forget the dead — and may indeed willfully forget them — God remembers them. In the Iraq war the numbers of those who have died mounts, and is staggering. While even the numbers of the dead are unknown to many of us, our faith teaches us that God does not forget them."

A small group of protesters led by Quakers have gathered once a week outside the federal building to hold a silent vigil. Once a month the vigil is followed by the "die-in." Andrus has attended a number of the weekly vigils, but this was the first "die-in" he has been able to attend, according to McConnell.

McConnell said "a handful of people were upset that the bishop was going to do this," after the invitation was issued for people to join the protest.

Andrus said one man, a veteran of the Vietnam War, told him that the protest summoned up for him all the feelings he had about fighting in Vietnam while hearing of angry war protests at home. The bishop said he told the man that he believes that protests of the Iraq war can be and have been "completely respectful of all the soldiers."

"The Bishop of California has been called to lead all the people in our diocese and beyond on the path of peace, and this was the first and visible step on that journey," McConnell said. "As we continue on this journey, we will invite all people of all faiths to join us."

Andrus became the eighth Bishop of California in July. The Diocese of California comprises about 30,580 Episcopalians worshipping in 80 congregations in the greater San Francisco area.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

U.S. Episcopalians in Manufactured Schism

Jimi — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:38:44 GMT

A Canterbury Tale: U.S. Episcopalians in Manufactured Schism
By Peter Laarman
The Huffington Post
07.06.06

Whose side is the Archbishop of Canterbury on? That's what some moderate and liberal Episcopalians would like to know in the wake of Rowan Williams' rather chilly response to goings-on at the recently concluded Episcopalian convention in Ohio. Those goings-on included the election of a new Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori.

The worldwide Anglican Communion, headed by Williams, certainly appears to be giving American liberals the back-of-the-hand treatment while extending a generous right hand of fellowship to dissident U.S. conservatives. There is some possibility that Williams will not even allow the new Presiding Bishop to participate in the 2008 Lambeth Conference -- a global gathering of all Anglican leaders that takes place once each decade. That would be a humiliating rebuke to the U.S. church.

On its face the fight is all about gender and sexuality. According to the Washington Post, Jefferts Schori once dared to use the expression "Mother Jesus" in a sermon; far worse in the eyes of conservatives, she allowed same-sex blessings to take place in the Diocese of Nevada, which she headed prior to her election, and she voted in the House of Bishops to endorse the consecration of openly gay V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

Alleged deviations like these have caused American conservatives to declare a state of schism within the U.S. church. Six of the denomination's 111 dioceses already say they do not recognize the new Presiding Bishop's authority. More are expected to do so before Jeffords Schori is consecrated at Washington's National Cathedral in November. So who will shepherd these departing American dioceses? The heroic defender of true faith among conservative Episcopalians is Bishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria. The wily and ambitious Akinola has been busily extending his reach in the U.S., even appointing some American clerics (mainly those with big and wealthy parishes) to be his junior bishops in setting up what amounts to an alternative denomination. So here is a rich historical oddity: while conservative Roman Catholic hierarchs recently declined the idea of an African pope, conservative Anglican hierarchs actually seem to have selected one.

How very Evelyn Waugh to see some pink-white American church leaders, many of them xenophobes in their secular politics, eagerly putting themselves under the jurisdiction of an African prelate! But the irony isn't much discussed among progressive Episcopalians, committed as they are to a multicultural vision. After all, they must be thinking, we once "missionized" most of the conservative Africans, Asians, and Latins who now hold the balance of power within worldwide Anglicanism; we gave them the Bibles they now quote against us; we need to hunker down and try to make some kind of peace over this.

It's the old liberals' dilemma, ecclesiastical version. They fight dirty; we don't. They organize; we temporize. They seize the pendulum and give it a rightward shove; we wait meekly for the pendulum to swing back.

The liberals could at least point out -- and I hope that Bishop Jefferts Schori will be the first to do so -- how shamelessly the rift within the U.S. denomination has been manipulated and exacerbated for many years by a little-known but well-financed and quite deadly operation called the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD).

Created by cunning Schactmanites and by ex-CIA operatives during the time of Reagan's dirty wars in Central America, the IRD's core work plan has always called for dividing and disabling the larger Mainline Protestant denominations -- the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, United Methodists, and Evangelical Lutherans -- using any means necessary. The means that has worked best by far is relentlessly flogging the issue of homosexuality and accusing religious progressives of departing from the true faith by preaching that God really does love everybody.

Thanks to the IRD's skillful fingering of this hot button through the different front groups it operates within each body, all four national denominations have been pretty much AWOL from the more urgent moral debates this moment: e.g., imperial wars of choice, torture, civil liberties, Katrina, climate change, and economic terrorism from above. The denoms just don't have the energy. Nearly all their attention and focus have been consumed by internal debates on matters Levitical.

I was reliably informed that the IRD operated right out in the open at the Episcopal convention back there in Columbus. And why shouldn't they crawl out of the woodwork and get kinda jiggy at this point? In Ohio they scored their biggest coup in a quarter-century of patient stalinoid boring from within.

One final irony: several of the guiding spirits in forming the IRD went on to create the intellectual foundations of the Bush-Cheney "dominance doctrine." So it's not that these folks doubt for one minute that Americans should rule the world; they are in fact quite passionately committed to taking up the White Man's Burden. It's just that in order for American dominance to be secured against all possible sources of domestic opposition, the liberal churches needed to be silenced. And for this purpose, what better CIA-like cover could possibly be contrived than multicultural deference to the spiritual interests and biblical views of the very same ex-colonials -- Africans, Asians, and Latins -- whose material interests and worldly aspirations our peerless American Empire will continue to shunt aside with total and utter contempt.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 2 replies

Advice please on dealing with Christian Fundamentalists?

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:50:26 GMT

I have a family member who every chance he gets sends me and my husband literature on becoming "born again" - he has been to our church and complains that we are to "ornate", "liberal", and not "Bible believing"... I have been dealing with this for years now by remaining calm and simply saying things along the lines of: "you have your beliefs and I have mine." However frankly now he is making me quite angry! He has gotten it in his head that Episcopalians are actually practicing Wicca under the disguise of Christianity. I assume he gets this b/c my church has a may pole dance every year and we remember our ancestors a little to close to Halloween for his liking (just two examples). I have friends who are Wiccan (and I have studied Wicca as well as other religions) so I'm offended at the way he calls Wiccans demon worshipers (ironic b/c their traditions have nothing to do with demons) and now he is telling people that we are witches and he has even written letters to our priest! Is fundamentalism a mental illness? Any advice?
How are Episcopalians supposed to deal with this type of thing? "You are not saved!" is the line he writes to anyone who does not think like him and has said to us in the past - is there a good way to handle that accusation? This is not someone I have to deal with on a daily basis (thank God) but it is a problem that has been bothering me for some time now! Any advice/thoughts you want to share would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ayshah

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 6 replies

Archbishop of Canterbury Shows ECUSA the Doorknob

Jimi — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:55:10 GMT

How does this make us feel?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2245849,00.html

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 2 replies

Hello, new here ...

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 21:47:16 GMT

I've been on Tribe for about six months, but brand new to this group. Just went to an Episcopal service for the second (third?) time in my life this morning. Not sure if it was a 'typical' one (is there such an animal?), but it was surprising, delightful, amazing, welcoming, wonderful. I have to recommend this church community very highly:

St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Lowell MA
www.stanneslowell.org

Knocked my socks off, much more so than any church I've been to in recent years (not that there have been many). They very nearly had me in a choir robe singing my heart out on the very first morning! The congregation is small but diverse in a way that reflects the diversity of the community (I suspect this is more the exception than the rule, by and large, in churches nowadays). Found myself wishing there were many more there, not because I need to be cheek by jowl by many, but because I wish so many more could reap the benefits of such a jumping joint! (Yes, a church built in neo-Gothic nearly 200 years ago can be a jumping joint).

I think after a lot of searching far and wide and a lot more feeling lost at sea for want of a church family for a long time, after peeling myself away from a Catholic upbringing, I might just be coming home ... who would have known? Life can surprise and disarm. It is good!

Anybody else had a similar "aha!" experience with their Episcopal/Anglican church community?

Thanks for reading. I am looking forward to finding out more and growing more into fullness and freedom ...

Cheers.

Laurie_Ann

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 3 replies

Bets on who is elected California Bishop

Jimi — Sat, 06 May 2006 03:59:42 GMT

The election of the next Bishop of the Diocese of California has attracted a fair amount of media attention. Three of the seven candidates are gay/lesbian. My prediction: Jane Gould will be the next Bishop of California. She is not a lesbian, but we should not hold that against her. She is a wonderful, deeply contemplative person and church leader. And she is wicked smart.

Anybody else have any ideas about this election?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

A new tribe, just for rants:

lowpockets — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 22:13:04 GMT

For fun, I started this new tribe a few days ago..

http://tribes.tribe.net/paddedcell

Remember, if all the rants are in one place, we will all be doing are part
to keep rants from appearing elsewhere on this planet .. lol ..

Elaine

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 2 replies

Controversial

Kit — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 18:29:07 GMT

I'm new, hi everyone, but I'd like to start out by saying that I am trying and have been trying to find the proper way to worship and believe in God. So I will ask some rather blatant and sometimes controversial questions. I joined this group particularly because I'm a confirmed Episcopalian.

Now aside from the whole gay bishop thing (I really don't care to worry about that aspect of scripture just yet) what do you say to the idea issue of predestination and free will? How do you see it? Are we free or is everything preplanned?

Before you answer please keep in mind that for both to exist at the same time is a contradiction. If God is constant and unchanging as most of western Christianity says, than he has everything planned out which means there is no free will and for that matter there is no love, because love is an action and it changes and moves as the people who recieve it have needs for different forms of love. Also that illiminates the power of prayer.

If however there is free will, than God does not know the future becuase the future is not written and thus there is something above or outside God's control. He is then not all powerful and omniscient.

Do you see my dilemma? I hope I've explained it fairly well. Please help or just engage me in a debate. Thank you.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 5 replies

Christianity and yoga

Sam — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:00:23 GMT

I have heard that many Christians are opposed to the practice of yoga. Can anyone explain to me what are the objections to yoga?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 2 replies

Seasons

Josh — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 16:11:11 GMT

Who follows the seasons? What do you do to follow the seasons? Is the BCP a help?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

Why are you an Episcopalian?

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 05:56:07 GMT

I'd like to know. Because I'm a curious guy.

I can tell you why I am an Episcopalian. I like the whole theological style of this outfit. The Via Media. Balancing Scripture, reason and tradition. Maybe add to that common sense (though perhaps that falls under the "reason" category).

As to Scripture, it can be argued that we Episcopalians do not emphasize this sufficiently. We hear it read to us in the liturgy, which causes a somewhat choppy treatment of the text. And then the sermon explicates it to some limited extent. Frankly, that's enough for me. Weekly (and sometimes more often) bite-sized chunks. I grew up in a "fundie" church, where Bible texts are used to prove the most outlandish things without any tether to human reason. I don't want a church where I have to park my brain at the door and become a glazed-over yes man within. Don't beat me over the head with the Bible. I've had enough of that.

As for reason, I think any reasonable person can perceive that the path of the ethical and spiritual development of humankind is towards inclusiveness. Jesus constantly broke down the social codes of propriety and shame. He consorted with sinners and outcasts, and blew off the priestly caste. Jesus's approach foreshadowed the words Edwin Markham:

They drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win -
We drew a circle that took them in.

The Episcopal Church in the United States stands proudly in the tradition of drawing the larger circle. Not long ago, the circle was expanded to include women clergy and Bishops. And the battle that currently rages in the Anglican Communion about gay priests and Bishops is about what we understand God's most basic message to be. I understand that message to be about love and understanding, which cannot exist in an environment where people are ostracized overtly or politely.

Finally, the tradition part of the tripod. I like the sacraments and the church year because they are, at the very least, mnemonic devices to keep me focused on a path that brings the divine into my consciousness on a regular basis. (And they are probably more than that, but I do not have much of a supernatural bent.) I also like hearing about great Christians from the past -- the Saints -- who exemplified the best things that our religion has done in the world, especially St. Francis and St. Benedict. Other "protestant" churches don't say anything about these people because for them there was a hiatus in "true" Christianity between 200 and 1600 AD.

I've probably said some igorant things here, not having any formal training in these matters. But I do have a great fondness for our Anglican and Episcopalian way. I'd like to hear what others have to say about it.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 14 replies

Is there not a moral and spiritual obligation?

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 18:55:22 GMT

If you are interested I have posted an essay at christianurbanism.blogspot.com on the spiritual obligation of churches in regard to urban neighborhood revitalization. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts (via the blog site, Tribe, or private message).

Frank

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Get the IRS Out of Our Churches

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 12:39:39 GMT

"West Wing" actor Bradley Whitford sounds of on the Huffington Post about the IRS's outrageous attack on All Saints, Pasadena:

Bradley Whitford
Huffington Post
12.04.2005
Get The IRS Out of My Church

I have been a member of the All Saints Church in Pasadena for over ten years. The recent revelations of an IRS investigation into its non-profit status as the result of a sermon given a week before the last presidential election by Rector Emeritus George Regas has outraged and galvanized our congregation.

The support we have received from across the spectrum of faith communities, including traditionally conservative evangelical leaders, has solidified our resolve—the United States government has no place in our houses of worship, and the selective targeting of churches who speak out on the issues of the day sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the religious freedom of every citizen.

The sermon in question explicitly refused to endorse a particular candidate. It did, however, hold George Bush and John Kerry up to the high standard of Christian values. Both were found wanting.

Values not put into action are meaningless, no matter how lofty they are. It is the obligation of our spiritual leaders to not just articulate those values, but to make them a reality.

We live in an age where describing oneself as a “person of faith” carries with it a tremendous political advantage. But too often in the public arena, being “religious” is defined only as a search for personal salvation and a willingness to adhere to dogma.

Declaring oneself a Christian is easy. Putting Christian values to work in a dangerous and violent world is not.

Perhaps the best response to the tragedy of 9/11 was a preemptive war against a country that had nothing to do with the attacks. Tens of thousands of deaths later, perhaps it is still the right decision.

But it is not Christian.

Perhaps it is good economics to give me, an actor on a television show, over a quarter of a million dollars in tax relief over the last five years as the poverty rate climbs, as we burden our children with structural budget deficits and cut services for our most vulnerable citizens.

But it is not Christian.

Perhaps the death penalty is an acceptable way to punish criminals.

But it is not Christian.

Jesus Christ was the Prince of Peace, not the Prince of Preemptive War. He was an advocate for the poor, not of supply-side economics. And let’s not forget that Jesus himself died in a bogus death-penalty rap. His was the original “bleeding heart,” yet I am afraid he would be described pejoratively by many today as a “do-gooder.”

President Bush proudly proclaims himself a Christian and tells us that his faith has changed his heart. Perhaps one day his faith will change his policies. Until then, I am proud to be a part of a congregation that seeks to hold all public officials to their easy— and too often empty—proclamations of faith.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Ordination

Josh — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 20:46:06 GMT

How does one become a priest? How's about an oblate? What does a deacon do? I'll officially be an episcopalian in two weeks.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

Anglo-Catholic Conservatives

Allan — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 04:22:55 GMT

I have been reading this blog:
http://all2common.classicalanglican.net/

It is an interesting take on things from a very Catholic, very Conservative point of view. Anyone here share these views? He is not broad church.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

IRS Crackdown on Antiwar Episcopal Clergy

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 05:29:27 GMT

A very alarming article in the L.A. Times indicates that the IRS threatened to withdraw tax exempt status to liberal clergy who speak out against the Iraq war. At least we can be proud that it was an Episcopal priest, George Regas, who prompted this reaction from the Bush brownshirts.

Here's the article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-allsaints7nov07,0,6769876.story?coll=la-home-headlines

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Why?

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 16:10:48 GMT

If God is everywhere, why call "everywhere," God?

If the message is simply to Love One Another, why do you need all these sacred texts, hierarchies, buildings and other stuff?

Isn't that just putting things in between you and your faith?

And what's up with these ministers and bishops anyway? I mean, really, walking around in robes acting all righteous, pulling in salaries for Jesus.

What's that got to do with anything? Seems to me your just creating little social groups where you can feel holy? And of course these groups have to have an inside and an outside, so you create false dichotomies in our communities based in dogma rather than civil rights.

Why?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

Searching...

SamusAran — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 03:30:42 GMT

I have been to a lot of churches in my life and have studied different religions on and off for a few years and Episcopalian(ism?) is the only one I haven't really delved into. But every time I pass a church, I'm strangely attracted (is that a good word?) to going. It's been a few years and I've passed a lot of Episcopalian churches and I still haven't gone.
I can never find anything online or in the library that just gives me the bare bones of what the beliefs are and what a church service is like. All I know is what Robin Williams said," Episcopalian- it's Catholic-lite."
I'm planning on going this Sunday (finally!) and I'd just like to know what to expect. Thanks, everyone!

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 3 replies

Does this thing make my butt look big?

Andrew — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 02:57:43 GMT

Well, it may not mean much to y'all but I got my first anglican cassock. Hey, it's the little things, right?

So anybody here live in New York?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 5 replies

Cathedral Dean Calls Sheehan A "Prophet"

Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:42:05 GMT

Thankfully, not everyone who call themselves Christians are warmongers.

Cathedral's Dean Kowalski calls Cindy Sheehan a "prophet"

By Daphne Mack
ENS 092105-1
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

[Episcopal News Service] More than 1,000 people filled the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City on September 19, 2005, to hear anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and supporters on the "Bring Them Home Now Tour" rally support for a three-day march and anti-war protest in Washington, DC, September 24-26.

"We need to show Congress that we mean business when we say we want our troops [to come] home," Sheehan said.

Sheehan came to national attention this summer when she camped out near President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, demanding that the vacationing president explain to her in person why her 24-year-old son Casey, an Army specialist assigned to 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, died in Iraq. The effort became known as Camp Casey.

In his welcoming address, the Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, dean of the cathedral, received applause when he likened Sheehan to a "prophet."

"In the Bible there are stories about seemingly unimportant, insignificant, seemingly powerless people who out of nowhere landed in the kingdom where the king was out of control and emerged as a prophet and said to the king you have lied to your people and led them astray and Cindy Sheehan is one of those prophets," he said.

"It's an honor to have you here," Kowalski told the crowd. “A lot of people told us not to do this, not as a church especially" which didn't "make any sense to us, especially this cathedral." However, he added, "a lot of things haven't been making any sense to us."

"We asked a lot of tough questions before we went to war, and I know a lot of people disagreed, but the truth is we weren't told the truth," Kowalski said.

He urged those present to not "let people ever persuade you that just because people disagree, that they are not patriots or [that] we're not patriots." He said the "name calling and the mean spirited deception going on in the name of government and in the name of patriotism has got to stop."

Kowalski asked "what greater conversation could there be than about stopping war, and returning to peace?"

Elliot Adams, of Veterans for Peace, spoke poignantly of "the pain" he kept "inside with alcohol" for 30 years over his part in the
Vietnam War. He compared a soldier to a "crystal glass, and if you break it, you can't fix it."

Asking the audience to repeat after him, Adams stated the three point message of Camp Casey that will be taken to Washington: first, “bring them home now”; second, “take care of them when they get here”; and third, “never send our love ones to war again on a lie.”

The Rev. Osagyefu Uhuru Sekou, of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq, said it was very appropriate to be assembled in this sacred place because there is no more sacred work than the work of peace and justice."

Sheehan told the crowd "we will not accept you not being in Washington, DC next weekend."

"We have to make the world safer and the only way we are going to do that is to get George Bush out of office," she said.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Church of England Apologizes to Muslims for Iraq War

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:39:38 GMT

The U.S. Episcopal Church should get on this bandwagon (if it hasn't already:

LONDON (AFP) - The Church of England offered to take the lead in reconciling with Muslims by apologizing to their leaders for the US-led war inIraq if the British government fails to do so.

The proposal was contained in a report, entitled "Countering Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post-9/11" which written by a working group of the Church of England's House of Bishops.

"We do believe that the church has a visionary role for reconciliation, beyond that of any government," the Bishop of Oxford, Right Reverend Richard Harris, told BBC radio.

"The Christian church in particular has a mandate to work for reconciliation," he said Monday.

The report suggests that a "truth and reconciliation" meeting between Christian and Muslim leaders would be an opportunity to apologize for the way the West has contributed to the tragedy in Iraq, including the March 2003 invasion led by the United States and Britain.

The Church of England, which lies at the heart of the worldwide Anglican communion, has been openly critical of the war in Iraq, claiming the invasion failed to meet the criteria of a "just war".

The meeting is offered as a solution to the moral dilemma that members of the church who opposed the war find themselves in.

The bishops say to pull out of Iraq without a stable democracy being in place would be irresponsible and compound the misery of the Iraqi people. But to stay suggests collusion with a "gravely mistaken" war.

If collusion is a necessary evil, the report says, there needs to be a degree of public recognition of the West's responsibility for the predicament.

The report highlights a "long litany of errors" in the West's handling of Iraq which includes its support of Saddam Hussein over many years as a strategic ally against Iran, its willingness to sell him weapons and the suffering caused to the Iraqi people by sanctions.

It goes on to say that the recent invasion appeared to be "as much for reasons of American national interest as it was for the well-being of the Iraqi people".

As Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government is unlikely to offer an apology, a meeting of religious leaders would provide a "public act of institutional repentance," it said.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Presiding Bishop troubled by U.S.-proposed revisions of global poverty agreements

Tue, 30 Aug 2005 11:39:35 GMT

As soon as right-wing nut-job John Bolton had been installed as UN Ambassador, he got busy gutting U.S. commitments on world poverty, the environment and other issues. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold speaks out about the new U.S. skinflint policy on global poverty:

Thursday, August 25, 2005
[Episcopal News Service]
In response to the United States' proposed revisions to UN poverty-reduction strategies -- as reported in today's New York Times and Washington Post -- the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, issued the following statement:

"I am deeply troubled by reports today that the United States has proposed revisions to UN global-poverty-reduction strategies that would undermine international commitments and partnerships already at work in the developing world. The Administration's sudden opposition to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the international target for rich nations to contribute 0.7% of GNP toward poverty reduction places an unwelcome obstacle in the path toward a more stable and secure world.

The world religious community -- which has been engaged in the work of international development for decades -- knows firsthand the vital importance of partnership between governments and institutions in the developed world and their counterparts in poor countries. Such partnership is embodied in the MDGs, and without it, the world is destined to fight a losing battle against the extreme poverty and deadly disease that are destabilizing our planet.

It had been my hope that next month's summit of world leaders at the UN would not only recommit to this sort of partnership by reaffirming the MDGs, but also take additional steps to work toward their fulfillment. I am deeply mindful of the need to use government resources to combat terrorism, but one of the most stinging lessons of our time is that the roots of terrorism and conflict most often can be found in those places where poverty and sickness abound and hope is lost.

Out of our deep commitment to the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to us by God in Christ, the Episcopal Church has endorsed the ethic of 0.7% giving to fighting global poverty, and a great number of our dioceses have already taken this step, as have many of the world's nations. For the U.S. to now oppose that long-held target further undermines our nation's international credibility, weakens rather than strengthens global security, and does violence to all of our efforts to respond to God's passionate desire for reconciliation and the well-being of all people."

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

Prayer Changes Things

Carol — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:26:33 GMT

http://prayerchangesthings.tribe.net/?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Bd7e26d9b-4f22-426c-b5b2-f8ec7aed1626%5D&r=10513

Please come and join us!

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

New to List

Rod — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 20:09:53 GMT

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to tribe.net and to the listing.

Hope to get a chance to chat and get to know you guys.

Peace

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 2 replies

Where have all the clergy gone . . .?

DixieDiva — Tue, 24 May 2005 16:39:37 GMT

I don't know if you all have noticed this but there seems to be a serious shortage in Episcopal clergy. Just about every church I've visited in the last few years as been looking for people to don the cloth and lead the flock. What's going on? Is it religious politics or a sign of the times?

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

New ePiscopalians tribe

Michael — Sat, 24 Apr 2004 10:14:56 GMT

It's too bad that this site hasn't been more active. Maybe that's because its members are too busy living a full life in real life and don't have time to spend much time on Tribe.net. Personally, I know that I'd rather spend time talking to someone face-to-face than exchanging e-mail messages. That's one reason I've created an new tribe called "Seeking God in DC -- ePiscopalians et al" for Tribe.net users who happen to live in and around northern Virginia and who want to exchange information about religious events, books, Web pages, experiences--whatever. If you qualify, I hope you'll consider joining. If you don't, I hope you'll check it out and see what we're trying to do--and if you know anyone in the DC area who might be interested, let them know about it. Our goal is simple, helping people find God and other spiritual people in "meat space" as well as in cyberspace.

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 7 replies

every voice network

bj — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 17:59:09 GMT

has anyone heard of this website?
everyvoice.net

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

A Soldiers Own Words

melm — Sat, 23 Oct 2004 02:28:17 GMT

a letter from Iraq- my friends brother is an army chaplain

This is from my good friend Melodie's brother. A very important read.

Please pass along and please for the good of our environment, our safety, our soldier's safety, our children's safety and futures, women's rights and the list goes on. PLEASE vote with your heart and not with your wallet.

I'm begging you.

Annie

Subject: This is from my brother who is in the army in Iraq....please read

IT IS VERY UNUSUAL FOR MY BROTHER TO VOICE DISSENT, AND THIS WAS ORIGINALLY ONLY SENT TO OUR IMMEDIATE(VERY REPUBLICAN) FAMILY. I THINK IT"S IMPORTANT TO SEND ON. LET ME KNOW IF IT DOES NOT SEND PROPERLY. thanks, Melodie

Subject: Concerning our illegal war in Iraq . . . From Phil

See the attached article. This is more widespread than you might think, even at command levels. See second paragraph for more info.

abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory
I am hearing from many soldiers, along with the immorality seen in adulterous affairs, broken marriages (6 in our hospital alone since this deployment began), theft and sexual assault, that many commands are suffering from great degrees of incompetence and coverups of various illegal activities. Soldier engaged in an immoral war will act immorally. The article points out what many soldiers are reporting to me, that they go out on patrols and take fire regularly, yet they still do not have up-armored vehicles. In fact, the unit that went into Sammarah a couple of weeks ago as part of that large force had to borrow up-armored vehicles for that fight ONLY TO GIVE THEM BACK ONCE THEY WERE DONE WITH THAT PARTICULAR MISSION which . . . surprise, surprise . . . is currently being used as an example by the administration of the kind of success they expect from other places like Fallujah. They are rushing to send contractors in to exploit this paper victory.

But the soldiers who actually went reported that taking Samarrah was actually a breeze . . . everyone was carrying around white flags! The insurgents were long gone . . . to TIkrit, where I am, and other towns nearby, to fight another day.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but having had a lot of time to think about is, My opinion is that we are currently engaged in an immoral and illegal war in Iraq which has killed over 20,000 Iraqis, 1100 American Soldiers and Marines, and wounded over 10,000 American soldiers and Marines, about 3,000 of which have suffered amputations of arms and legs and severe burning over much of their bodies.

Concerning the Draft: Sorry if this ticks anyone off, but Kerry is right, but more than even he is willing to admit. The current administration policy called "Stop loss" and "stop move", is what the soldiers call a "Stealth Draft." IT IS IN FACT A DRAFT. Soldiers right now are being held in service against their will. Many want to get out, but cannot because of this "stop loss." which is in effect, an illegal draft. If there was a war on, it might be legal, but as our President has said out of one side of his mouth "the war is over" . . . over a year ago.

I just wanted to assure you all that you are not supporting me or the rest of the soldiers here by supporting President Bush in this war. The humanitarian stuff you have heard about is a sham to cover up the fact that we came into this broken down country illegally, and completely destroyed the very things we now claim to be rebuilding. We are not, however. All that propaganda about power plants, hospitals, etc. is all smoke. None of that is happening. The average Iraqi has four hours of electricity a day, if that, sometimes going for days without power. And this 1.5 years after the "War ended."

I have seen 10 soldiers die right in front of me. I have seen many more badly burned, disfigured, with limbs blown off. I have seen nothing but anger from the Iraqi people, except for those, as I have said before, that are making money hand over fist out of the money we are pouring into this country to try and cover up the fact that it was all a mistake. If you wonder where the 413 billion dollar deficit came from, you don't have to look any farther than Iraq for a good portion of it.

Those who are much smarter than me think we have a much greater threat than Saddam ever was in NOrth Korea (where we are moving our troops out of South Korea to try and stem the disaster that is occurring here) or even in Iran that we are now vulnerable too, with all of our assets obligated here and in the much more legitmate Afghanistan. This war has been a disastrous sidestep in the war against terror, which started well, and continues well in Afghanistan.

IMPORTANT: The loudly touted victory in Samarrah a couple weeks back is all a bunch of smoke as well . . . all the insurgents did, when they saw the huge attack coming, was to move to other nearby cities like ours . . . Tikrit. That is what I am hearing from injured soldiers who patrol every day, come who were even in on that attack. Since that "Great success", we have been attacked here on my FOB (Forward Operation Base) 7 times in three weeks . . . that is about seven times the normal amount. The same in other surrounding cities.

If you disagree with my political conclusions, that's alright. But please think hard, beyond the propaganda, about this war and remember that you still have not been told why we are really here. Four more years of President Bush is four more years of him not being able to admit that he did not make a mistake in invading this shell of a country, and four more years of secret drafts and dead American soldiers. I don't know if there is more hope with Kerry . . . nobody will be able to fix this disaster quickly.

Just be very prayerful in your decision, and be sure to really look into the list of lies that has brough us into this war, and don't be fooled. Those of us who are over here would really appreciate it.

Phil

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 1 reply

Luther's Toilet

Fri, 22 Oct 2004 15:35:54 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3944549.stm

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 0 replies

hi

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 09:07:48 GMT

Hello everyone,
I am a new member to tribe.net, and this tribe. So, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Tiana, my friends call me Rogue. I am 22 and live in Vallejo, Northern California. I am Episcopalian and was confirmed in the church. Well, hope to talk to you guys later. -Tiana

posted in Episcopal and Anglican - 6 replies