“What makes [Liberty] a really bad fit is the matter of bigotry against certain groups, [namely] gays and lesbians,’’ said Northfield resident Nancy Champoux, a retired teacher who attended the meeting. “Unless we’re all involved [in finding a good fit], it’s really unlikely this is going to work out well for anyone.’’
This is not about having scones and cream at tea, but no jam. It’s about churches being judged by an unfair and arbitrary process against unclear standards, and on the basis of that judgement, without any right of appeal, having their participation in the Instruments of Communion withdrawn.
Twenty years ago, Archbishop Terence Finlay, then Archbishop of Toronto revoked the license of the Rev. James Ferry because Ferry had fallen in love with the man who would become his lifelong partner. Next Sunday, they will participate in a rate service of reconciliation. Love changes lives, and changes minds.
Should a church-wide effort be deemed appropriate, do not institute a development program until its fundraising objectives can be fully developed into funding cases as a result of the Strategic Plan described in #3 above, with budgets, management, timelines and sustainability clearly documented, and the cases presented to church leadership for approval.
John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, continues to employ diverting rhetoric and novel arguments in his campaign against marriage equality in the United Kingdom. From Sentamu’s recent statements one might conclude that he is not interested in succeeding Rowan Williams as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
There’s something about that conviction that gives us a radical freedom. A freedom to be generous to those with whom we disagree. A freedom to be wrong and not obsess about it.
While the Church of England dioceses are voting on the question of the Anglican Covenant, there’s a second resolution being in considered in just less than a quarter of the 44 dioceses. It’s related to the Covenant question, but it doesn’t reference the Covenant directly.
In Lent when we talk of growth in virtue as a consequence of resisting temptations, we are not speaking about Jesus but about ourselves. …Jesus’ temptations were a clarification of what it meant to be God’s son: to trust God for food and protection and to be obedient rather than self-reliant.