Some time along about noon yesterday, the Episcopal Café received its one millionth visit since opening for business in late April, 2007. Just a day earlier, we reached 2.5 million “page views.” Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who visits the site, especially those of you who drop by daily to keep up with the news, appreciate the art and perhaps spend a little time in meditation.
Yesterday we began talking about fasting, the pre-eminent spiritual discipline recommended by the prayer book for Lent. We got as far as the externals, the nuts and bolts of the discipline. Now we’ll take a step deeper and look into the theology, spirit, and purpose that animates the practice, connects it to Lent, and empowers it as a tool for the Gospel.
Shrove Tuesday calls us to think about sin in preparation for the season of repentance, yet the tradition of revelry associated with Mardi Gras militates against deadly seriousness. Can we let ourselves into the subject of sin a little lightly?
The Diocese of Northern California and Bishop Barry Beisner have filed a lawsuit to regain church property in Petaluma, California. In a press release issued
Tobias Haller continues to do heavy lifting in graceful prose. His case for a positive view of same-sex relationships is informed by Scripture, tradition and reason, and constitutes one of the best resources on the Web. Read parts eight and nine.
Study after study has shown that American college students are fleeing from organized religion to mix-and-match spirituality. So what will happen to what one of my students referred to as the “religions of discipline” when this millennial generation (born in the late 1970s through the 1990s ) grows up?
Camp Quixote, a tent city for homeless residents that began illegally on city property but now is celebrated by city leaders, marked its first anniversary Friday. Churches in Olympia offered space for Tent City when the homeless were evicted from a vacant lot.
The Chicago Tribune reports Chicago’s new bishop, Jeffrey Lee, and the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori sent a clear message about where they stand on
Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Jeff E. Schapiro has some pointed observations about the intervention of the Virginia Attorney General’s office into the property dispute between the Diocese of Virginia and churches from CANA: “McDonnell’s entry in the church case, intentionally or not, may have a political dimension.”