As I write this message there are less than 24 hours until the early results of the 2008 Presidential election are to be announced. We don’t know who is going to be elected whether to the Presidency or to a number of Senate seats around the country, or to the House seats that are suddenly being fought over even here in Arizona. What we do know is that no matter what happens there are going […]
Andrew Brown has written an extraordinarily helpful piece about the effect that online discourse is having on our common-life in the Church and in the State. He focuses on the effects the discourse is having on religious discussion but his points could just as easily be applied to the civil. Brown describes the online behavior thusly: “On the web the participants are often sober and they spare no pains to offend and insult one another, […]
Today the Episcopal Church is observing the feast of Bishop Jeremy Taylor. I was scanning through his biographical details, which are primarily concerned with his role as a royalist and traditional Anglican during the time of Cromwell’s protectorate, and his career following the restoration of the monarchy. I was struck by this particular paragraph in his Wikipedia article: “His great plea for toleration is based on the impossibility of erecting theology into a demonstrable science. […]
My friend Fr. Nathan has written an essay inspired by what Christopher has written, and which I’ve posted a link to here. He ends his essay, which is really worth reading in the entirety: “So, to my conservative friends, I will say: I agree with you that those churches that tout their ‘inclusiveness’ are often so wishy-washy and touchy-feely that no one will ever be challenged to repent, that repentance and conversion seem anathema, that […]
The Lead on Episcopal Cafe has the story: “A response from Lambeth offices to the discussions around the Bishop Howe emails: ‘It should be understood that the Archbishop’s response to Bishop Howe was neither a new policy statement nor a roadmap for the future but a plain response to a very urgent and particular question about clergy in traditionalist dioceses in TEC who want to leave TEC for other jurisdictions, a response reiterating a basic […]
A letter written from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishop of Central Florida has been released to the public. You can find the text of the letter here. There’s some real confusion about the implications of the letter. From what I’ve read on blogs and websites, and in some private conversation, I think the Living Church’s sense of how to read the Archbishop’s words in this context is most likely the correct one: “In […]
There’s a wonderful essay on Episcopal Majority this morning, in which the author describes the difficulty of living in tension with people with whom we disagree, and seeing Jesus’ life as a guide to our actions today: “The bishops’ statement, if examined carefully, seems to be attempting to do two things that are almost impossible to do at the same time. On the one hand, the bishops are attempting to preserve some kind of unity […]
Bishop Paul Marshall of the Diocese of Bethlehem included thoughts about the challenges that confront Anglicans today in his address to his Diocesan Convention. (I note with strong agreement, that he prefaced his remarks by talking about the signs of life and spirit that he has found among the people of his diocese – and the vital work that they are undertaking in partnership with Anglican christians in Sudan.) From Bishop Marshall’s address, and on […]
I received this email this evening and I’m posting it with Dr. Crew’s permission. The signatures on the letter represent one of the founders of Integrity and one of the founders of the AAC (American Anglican Council) Dear Gentle Nicholas; We write this appeal to you as leaders in the Episcopal Church who have profoundly different convictions about matters concerning human sexuality. Yet, both of us are committed to reconciliation as a different paradigm or […]
Andrew Gerns has some helpful thoughts on the Covenant process that is spluttering along in the Communion right now: “What was floated in Dar es Salaam, a highly structured Covenant that is more constitutional and dogmatic in format is, if not dead, certainly on life-support. The Archbishop of Canterbury came back from sabbatical not only with a new book, but it seems with a more realistic assessment of where the Episcopal Church is and with […]
