Episcopal Life points us to how members the Council of Episcopal Women’s Organizations (CEWO) are learning about how to reach “new audiences through blogs, Facebook, YouTube, iPods and other electronic forms of staying in touch” in the new media environment.
From Fr. Jake’s account of a “fireside chat” with the Presiding Bishop: “Bp. Katharine reminded us that there are two stories of creation in Genesis. One begins with the creative act of God, after which we are told that God looked upon creation and declared that “It is very good.” The other creation account focuses on the fall in the garden.”
The LA Times ran a story that’s created some drama in the blogosphere about a service in which Hindus and Christians worshiped together at an Episcopal service. The story ran on Jan. 20, claiming that “All were invited to Holy Communion, after the Episcopal celebrant elevated a tray of consecrated Indian bread, and deacons raised wine-filled chalices.” Today, the newspaper ran a correction.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has released the schedule of the Lambeth Conference. The bishops will take up the most contentious issues before the Communion July 31-August 2.
The first woman priest in the Anglican Communion was not an American. In a curious parallel to the seating of Elizabeth Dyer in the House of Deputies in 1946, the upheaval of wartime had also made possible the 1944 ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi by Ronald O. Hall, the bishop of Hong Kong, to provide priestly ministrations to Chinese Americans under the Japanese occupation.
As I put down the kitchen phone, I remember with a pang how, when my kids were small, they would greet a day like this with great whoops of joy, running outside to sled down the lawn and make snow angels. Don’t look back, I tell myself. Banish the self-pity. You have two healthy, grown kids. You have a full life, people and work you love. You’re safe in a warm house. To be anything but thankful would be a disgrace. Still…
Chesterton’s famous quote cuts in many directions, but it reminds us that the churches in which we worship, and the dioceses and provinces in which they are situated, are things we have received in trust and hope to pass on in trust. Aside from the absence of an impartial monitor for the plebiscite-like votes that have taken place of late, we also lack the crucial participation of that ‘most obscure of all classes’ and an honest commitment to honour legitimate outcomes.
“It came out of this observation that we have so many people in the neighborhood who are dog owners,” says The Rev. Sandra Castillo, rector at the Episcopal Church of the Advent and La Iglesia Episcopal de Nuestra Senora de las Americas. “We thought this might be a good way to reach out.”
The live video stream on Saturday January 26th will bring Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s greetings to continuing Episcopalians gathered at the Central California Valley historic church, starting about 10 a.m. Pacific time (11 a.m. Mountain, 12 a.m. Central, 1 p.m. Eastern)
Extending DADT would be a recruiting disaster, and could be far more destructive of unit cohesion. Suddenly, heterosexuals would have to bear the same kinds of costs that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender soldiers have been bearing for years (just as heterosexual couples at our church have had to bear the same costs that LGBT couples have borne –- not being able to religiously marry).