There are an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in America, and the New Sanctuary Movement will only ever directly help a handful of them. And given the concerns about church-state separation, it has its problems, even at the level of symbolism.But its practitioners are, at the very least, offering a moral alternative to the often inflammatory rhetoric of the Lou Dobbses of the world.
Tobias Haller offers a skillful dissection of the most recent draft of the Anglican Covenant which prompts two questions: What does the covenant add to the life of the Communion other than a means of expelling members? And, why would parties with no interest in expelling other members consent to the creation of a club that they will never wield, but may well be wielded against them?
Perhaps you were unaware the neurology plays an essential role in congregational development, especially during times to transition. Peter Steinke will explain to you why individuals and communities resist change, no matter how obvious the need for such change might be. And he will make you laugh as he does so.
Café essayist Heidi Shott of the Diocese of Maine wonders whether she has sited the first ever “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You” tattoo.
Davis Mac-Iyalla, a prominent critic of Nigeria’s Archbishop Peter Akinola, is returning to the United States this month to raise awareness about the lives of gay Africans and to raise money in support of a gay African presence at this summer’s Lambeth Conference. Learn how you can support his efforts.
The Archives of the Episcopal Church announces an electronic publication and online exhibit entitled, The Church Awakens: African Americans and the Struggle for Justice. The multimedia exhibit covers the period of enslavement to the present, with emphasis on the Civil Rights era.
Lent is not about resolutions. It is about making a “rule” in the same way that monastics follow a Rule of Life. A Rule orders one’s desires and attentions away from the self and toward God, not so that we might be better people, but so that we might draw closer to God.
When the season of Lent is at hand, it is observed in the following manner. Now whereas with us the forty days preceding Easter are observed, here they observe the eight weeks before Easter. This is the reason why they observe eight weeks: