The Archive
Getting off the fence in San Joaquin
Episcopal Bishop Jerry Lamb sent a letter dated yesterday to the active clergy in San Joaquin who have not yet recognized his authority within the Diocese—giving them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they are still undecided, but also giving them a date by which they need to make up their minds or face consequences
The Cathedral and the Compass Rose
It began to dawn on me that my overwhelming desire to finish or at least “fix” the Cathedral was akin to the quest of some to fix the present crisis in the Anglican Communion through any number of means, as though the Anglican Communion can be fixed or cleansed by sand-blasting, the empty porticoes filled in with saints hewn from stone who will guard us from all that is heretical and undesirable.
Bold devotion
You, too, daughter of Canaan, conquered the Unconquerable One by boldness for that justice. The Just One set a boundary for the land of the Gentiles that the Gospel might not cross over. Blessed are you who broke through the fence fearlessly.
Plans to separate continue
CANA holds their Council 2008 this weekend in Akron, Ohio. The group continues its plans to set up a separate Anglican Province in North America.
Cathedral plans to serve parallel Anglican jurisdictions
Updated Saying that they don’t want to choose between “competing Anglican bodies,” the Chapter of Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh will vote on a plan that would allow the Cathedral to serve both the remaining Episcopalians in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and those who would separate from the Episcopal Church at this fall’s diocesan convention.
I am my brother’s keeper
Father Patrick Malloy, Rector of Grace Church, Allentown, PA, reflects on the violence that visited his congregation and neighborhood when Jameel Clark was murdered in the parish’s parking lot.
Some social conservatives tiring of politics in the pulpit
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a survey that says that some Americans are tiring of their pastors bringing electoral politics to their pulpits.
New IRS publication on churches & tax exemption
The Internal Revenue Service has issued a revised version of its publication, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations. The 28-page multi-colored publication provides guidance on obtaining and keeping tax exempt status, employment taxes, unrelated business income taxes, employee business expenses, record keeping and filing requirements.
Unbearable burdens
The practice of exorcism by rituals and prayers was common in the ancient world, among Jews, pagans, and Christians alike. Today we are blessed to have other means of treating the physical and mental ailments that our ancestors termed “possession.” But I doubt that this is the whole story; I suspect that exorcism still has a place in our lives.