Anglican Agonies

Thank you William Murchison for a wonderful column in Human Events.
Anglican Agonies.
2/27/2007

"The media, which had covered civil rights and feminism with sympathy, found gay rights at least as engaging a matter, and as central to modern notions of liberation. If you opposed gay rights -- so the manufactured mythology went -- you probably hated gays...

Who's in charge here, God or us, is roughly the question. That the Bible, God's word, takes a high view of obedience to divine authority and a low view of what might be called I'll Do It My Way, is the real question, not whether to bless same-sex unions in Episcopal churches.

The media, with ample help from gay-rights exponents, helped perpetuate the notion that God was more bystander than participant in a controversy that was about rights and choices, not duties, not obligations, not responsibilities, not behaviors that advanced divine ideals as to the leading of life."

Snow falling in Perkiomenville, PA Feb 25, 2007

Snow falls on my stone circle. Perkiomenville, PA. Feb 25, 2007

The First Sunday in Lent at St. Clements

I went to St. Clements in downtown Philadelphia this morning for Low Mass (Rite 1). I felt like I was home. 1928 Book Of Common Prayer all the way.



What a lovely place for those of us who miss the Episcopal church the way it was for 400 years - until just a few decades ago - when the barbarians took over.

Blessed are the peacemakers

This letter was published Feb 5, 2007 in the Tuscaloosa News:

Dear Editor:

Christ said, “Blessed are the peacemakers." So, how did Christians turn into Christian-Zionists (evangelicals), elect Bush, and fund the bombing of Iraqi and Palestinian children? And how can they claim to be “pro-life?"

Jean Allen Feb 17, 2007

Anglicans coming back to "The Holy Catholic Church" ?

This is very interesting. Surely no Anglican can feel good about the separation of the Anglican (Church of England) from Catholicism during the reign of Hery VIII. Maybe a reconciliation is in the offing.

Churches back plan to unite under Pope
from the London Times
February 19, 2007

Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.

In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.

The statement, leaked to The Times, is being considered by the Vatican, where Catholic bishops are preparing a formal response....

Celebrate Jesus' Entrance into Jersusalem - and be ecofriendly too!!

Thank you Episcopal Church USA - for a good laugh. No other comment is needed.

Episcopal Church and partners offer way to make social and environmental justice part of Palm Sunday celebrations[ENS] Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, accented by the jubilant waving of palm fronds, is re-enacted each Palm Sunday in Christian congregations worldwide as the observance of Holy Week begins. More than 300 million palm fronds are harvested each year for U.S.consumption alone, most of them for Palm Sunday. Unfortunately, for the communities where these palms are harvested, palm fronds do not always represent the same jubilation. The Episcopal Church is joining Lutheran World Relief, Catholic ReliefServices' (CRS) Fair Trade Program and the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Enough for Everyone Program to promote the use of sustainably harvestedeco-palms for Palm Sunday 2007. By purchasing eco-palms for Palm Sunday celebrations, Episcopal congregations can play an important role inprotecting forests, local jobs, and sustainable livelihoods in the harvesting communities.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Happy St. Valentine's Day.

My daughter Victoria and her friend Sarah took this picture out of our kitchen window into a holly tree in our back yard. There's a Robin in the tree. What would a Robin be doing here in the dead of February?

Nice picture girls.

An excellent reply to homosexual evangelism

Recently the Evesham School Board has come under fire from some parents for showing a film in school to their students that normalizes homosexual behaviour. Here is an excellent editorial from a parent who objected to the showing of such a film to her child in that public school.

"That's a Family! was produced not to encourage tolerance, but to aggressively advocate the normalization of homosexual behavior. The San Francisco-based organization that made the video, Women's Educational Media, says in its mission statement: "We ensure that our films are used to inspire meaningful social change." Other films produced by the group include One Wedding and a Revolution, a "behind-the-scenes look at the days leading up to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's decision to allow lesbian and gay couples to marry," and Choosing Children, a "groundbreaking documentary about lesbians becoming parents."

" film on family life and sexual mores produced by the Catholic Church would never be shown in the public school system. Nor should it be. Family values and sexual mores are areas of great controversy in our society. The taxpayer-funded public school system has no right to step into this debate, redefine the family unit, and establish new sexual norms, just as it has no right to promote a particular religion to the exclusion of others."

Rebecca Nugent
Philadelphia Inquirer
Feb 13, 2007

Bishop Katherine Schori and her army of lawyers

Episcopal Church goes to court in Virginia to retain parishes' property

Complaint asks for compliance with canons, accounting of property

Lawyers from the Episcopal Church USA, filed a 20-page complaint in the County of Fairfax, Virginia, courts on February 9. The complaint lists the Episcopal Church as the plaintiff and names as defendants the former clergy and vestry members of the 11 parishes and missions in Virginia that have chosen to leave the ECUSA for the Anglican communion.

In addition the Virginia Diocese is suing those churches. Also Virginia Bishop Peter Lee inhibited 21 diocese and clergy in mid-January and rescinded the licenses of six others, saying that he was acting on a determination by the diocesan Standing Committee that the clergy "have openly renounced the doctrine, discipline or worship of the Episcopal Church and, therefore, have abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church" because of the votes.

The parishes and missions (of the 195 in the diocese) are: Church of the Apostles, Fairfax; Church of the Epiphany, Herndon; Church of Our Saviour, Oatlands; Church of the Redeemer, Chantilly; Church of the Word, Gainesville; Potomac Falls Church, Sterling; St. Margaret's, Woodbridge; St. Paul's, Haymarket; St. Stephen's, Heathsville; The Falls Church, Falls Church; and Truro Church, Fairfax. Church of the Word and Potomac Falls Church are missions of the diocese; the other nine are parishes.

Although the Bible says that you should not sue fellow Christians in courts - the actions of Bishop Lee and Bishop Katherine Schori make it clear that they will be playing hardball with any church members who disagree with their edicts.