The Church Times on the wedding: Anglicans overseas who do not know the legal force of the clergy freehold might be convinced that the Archbishops are about to crack the whip in some way. But the simple truth is that a cleric who holds the freehold … is at liberty to make up his or her mind about the relative merits of various pronouncements on theology or ethics.
After the high-energy spectacle of the Pride parade about 30 revelers headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral for a more subdued but no less heartfelt celebration of Pride. Massachusetts Episcopal Bishop Thomas Shaw, fresh from marching in the parade, led worshippers in song and prayers.
The truth is that the conference has so far been a shambles. Its leader, the belligerent Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, has been denied entry to Jordan. Significant absentees at Gafcon include the Rt Rev John Chew, Primate of South-East Asia, and Dr Mouneer Anis, Presiding Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East
Julia Duin of The Washington Times considers the secrecy surrounding the current GAFCON gathering in Jerusalem, the news-free dreams that leaders of the Anglican Communion harbor for the upcoming Lambeth Conference and wonders why everything is so…quiet.
When he was old enough to search for better ways to convey what he felt when the love of God came upon him, he would tell his mother and father and minister and anyone else in Nicholasville, Kentucky, that it was like butter, liquid-warm, luminous, drizzled atop his head and descending over and through him in a seamless golden coat to his feet.
The intrepid Simon Sarmiento alerts us that the anti-gay Anglicans holding their conference in Jerusalem will be sharing the city next Thursday with a gay pride parade.
Having failed to gain entry to Jordan, Peter Akinola unveils GAFCON’s new book, bearing an essay under his name, that the Church Times demonstrated last August was actually written by Martyn Minns.
A young person defends the moral fitness of young people in an intriguing post that is more explict than our usual fare.
Bible stories can be similarly horrifying. Just look at a few from Genesis. Abraham offers his wife Sarah to a foreign king. Lot’s daughters seduce their father. Jacob steals Esau’s birthright, so Esau tries to kill him. Even stories like Noah’s Ark are hardly G-rated. Who can really dwell on the way it begins? In the flood story, God proposes to kill’em all and start over.
Recognizing our origins in earth and in God prepares the ground for our understanding of our place on this planet. It saves us from the terrible hubris, or pride, which is the source of so much of our destructiveness. When we feel disconnected from our bodies, from our earthiness, we are also disconnected from the rest of creation.