Almighty Father, you give us life
as you give life to all people.
You call us into the Church
that with men and women
of different races, colors, and languages,
different experiences and different traditions,
we may be one body
to the glory of Christ on earth.
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The compromise being worked on over the weekend has seen moderate conservative bishops working with liberals bishops and senior Anglican officials on a formal statement that would keep the majority of US bishops together. American conservative bishops complained that the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to see them, or return their calls during his stay.
All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena, California, will keep its non-profit status after a two year inquiry of a sermon given by a visiting speaker in 2004, but the IRS also found that the sermon was an improper intervention in electoral politics.
Americans now have less than a fifty percent chance for having a marriage that lasts more than 25 years, according to new U.S. Census data. The trends for a marriage surviving even fifteen years are also troubling. Still, it appears that the divorce rate has actually remained steady in recent years.
He called the bishops’ meeting last March “a profoundly disturbing experience for me. I was more than a little surprised when such a majority declared the polity of the Episcopal Church to be primarily that of an autonomous local church relating to the wider Anglican Communion by voluntary association. This is not the Anglicanism in which I was formed, inspired by the Oxford Movement and the Catholic Revival in the Church of England.”
There is little to be found in this morning’s papers on developments in New Orleans. The Sunday Telegraph (to be distinguished from The Telegraph) was
While the Bishops meeting in New Orleans may well be making some history of their own, we thought that a little historical perspective about the history of faith in America would be appropriate. This week was actually a fairly important week in American church history, including the adoption of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Freedom of Religion Clauses.
The silence is growing. Voices are being stilled. It is not a trivial thing to speak up for the support of art in America. It is a liberating thing. People who care about justice must care about the voice of justice: the arts that embody our collective voice as a people of God.
Crucified and risen Lord, we pray for the Church.
Save us from dawdling by an empty tomb.
Save us from bondage to the past.
Save us from the hypnotic fascination of decay and death
and make your Church to know your resurrection life.
May we follow where you lead and live for you in today’s world.
The Lord is risen.
He is risen indeed.