A local lawyer has challenged a homeless advocacy program near his office that he says has created a downtown neighborhood nuisance. But the dean of Christ Church Cathedral says the work will go forward.
Starting Advent 1, clergy of the Diocese of Massachusetts are being given leave by Bishop Thomas Shaw to solemnize same-gender marriages for eligible couples.
Asked about Archbishop Donald Wuerl’s threat to pull the archdiocese out of the social service business, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia said: “I’m Catholic, and I think it’s wrong. I don’t think you take your ball and go home.” Martin O’Malley of Maryland said: “I have a hard time believing that the nuns and priests who taught me about the Corporal Works of Mercy would agree that this is an appropriate response for the church.”
Andrew Brown of the Guardian rejects the arguments of church officials, American and English, who think they should keep silent about the anti-gay legislation currently before the Ugandan parliament.
There is a moral dimension to the energy choices we make, and, as conscientious individuals, we cannot ignore the impact our energy use has on the planet. Countless members of faith communities all over the world have begun to recognize their religious duty to care for God’s creation. We recognize that human civilization is polluting our environment, which is not ours but God’s creation.
This year, the Diocese of Washington’s Advent calendar, (visible at edow.org/advent) is a bit of puzzle, literally. The image of the Nativity is a brilliantly-colored children’s puzzle produced by a Sri Lankan cooperative working with SERRV International.
Our weekly look at just some of the good things going on in the Episcopal Church.
We knew there would be trouble right from the start when the rabbi said he would not perform our marriage on campus because the Columbia University chapel has “Christian windows.” But we did not anticipate that during the wedding my mother, a recent convert to Roman Catholicism, would stand outside crying and try to keep people from entering because, she explained, the chapel “was not consecrated.”
When James Warren heard that his column describing All Saints Episcopal Church on Chicago’s North Side and their ministry to the homeless might have motivated someone to vandalize the church, he felt terrible. On visiting the parish, he was surprised at what he found.
The draconian anti-homosexuality bill currently being proposed in Uganda might be an opportunity for churches to experience some unity around issues of sexuality unless continued silence will be seen as abandonment of gays and lesbians by the Church. It is our choice.