Members of the Diocese of Quincy who want to remain loyal to the Episcopal Church will meet on December 13 to take the first formal steps to reorganize and reconstitute the diocese. Attendees plan to organize a steering committee to guide the process and lay the groundwork for a special synod meeting, likely to be held in January.
Updated with Jeff Sharlet of the Revealer, who writes: Even as these Anglicans create something new — a church actually founded on its rejection of
“There are clear guidelines set out in the Anglican Consultative Council Reports detailing the steps necessary for the amendments of existing provincial constitutions and the creation of new provinces. Once begun, any of these processes will take years to complete. In relation to the recent announcement from the meeting of the Common Cause Partnership in Chicago, the process has not yet begun.
What if all the conservatives accomplish is the creation of a tiny church of some 80,000 people that is recognized by a dozen Anglican primates and is invisible in most of North America? Wouldn’t the Times’ coverage look a little rash in retrospect?
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has joined 39 other U.S. Christian leaders in calling on President-elect Barack Obama to make lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority during his first year in office. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), of which the Episcopal Church is a member, is circulating the leaders’ December 1 letter.
Many people who congratulate us go on immediately to ask, “But doesn’t this just feel like a formality?” To which we say, No. Emphatically. True, our union was blessed in a church 16 years ago, but this is different. This is an act of public witness, an exercise of public accountability, a participation in a universally recognized and honored status that confers legal, social, and emotional benefits and responsibilities.
Every now and then we get an email asking how to submit an article to the Café. We’ve now created an email address for that purpose: thetransom@episcopal.cafe.
Thou New Jerusalem, arise and shine!
The glory of the Lord on thee hath risen!
Sion, exult! rejoice with joy divine,
Mother of God! Thy Son hath burst His prison!
Dow Jones reports that Generation Investment Management, a green fund headed by Al Gore, has been allocated £50m by the Church of England Commissioners. Originally
The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, who resigned last month as Bishop of Quincy — in the brief interval between coming back from sabbatical and