At the General Convention in 2009, the General Convention tasked the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music with developing theological and liturgical resources for the blessing of same sex couples. These liturgical resources will be presented to the 2012 General Convention and voted on for trial use by the Church. If approved for trial use, what would that mean for the Diocese of Georgia?

Bishop Benhase cannot support the current version of the proposed trial rite because he does not believe it is sufficiently distinguished from the rite of marriage found in the Book of Common Prayer. There may be, however, a provision in whatever resolution is approved that would allow alternative rites from the one proposed to also be authorized. If that happens, then there is a good possibility that a rite of blessing may be available that meets the Bishop’s criteria.

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Read this obituary and then check this article out also.

You are encouraged to continue reading it and commenting on it over here.

Most gracious God, by the calling of thy servant James Theodore Holly thou gavest us our first bishop of African-American heritage. In his quest for life and freedom, he led thy people from bondage into a new land and established the Church in Haiti. Grant that, inspired by his testimony, we may overcome our prejudice and honor those whom thou callest from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The rub of course is when what is right and what is wrong becomes the stuff of ecclesiastical politics; and this, unfortunately, is where we are. But, as much as I dislike it, most rank and file parishioners did not care about the details of the allegations that were brought against me, nor did they understand the questions of church polity which beggared the dispute. Such matters as ecclesiastical constitutionality reside in galaxies far away from where they live their daily lives ”“ thank God.. So after enduring this season of trials, while not entirely unscathed”¦and who knows what allegations may yet be forth coming”¦ I remain thankful for the broad unity we share as a diocese and with a strong desire that as much as possible we may move forward together. As you have just heard in the video, there is an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” Together is where we need to be for what lies on the road ahead; for this is not a time for us to drift into individualistic or false realities.

I say often to congregations, “Face reality as it is: Not as it was: nor as we wish it were: but as it is.” The reality is that as the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina we have unique opportunities and unique challenges. The remarkable English scholar, missionary and bishop, Stephen Neill once commented that “To be a bad Anglican is the easiest thing in the world; the amount of effort required in a minimum Anglican conformity is so infinitesimal that it is hardly to be measured.” But he went on to say, “To be a good Anglican is exceedingly taxing business.” If we substitute Episcopalian for Anglican we have just as telling and true a statement for our challenge today. To be a bad Episcopalian is easy. Just drift with the flow of whatever cultural stream carries you and you can be an Episcopalian. I remember reading as a seminarian, Bishop Allison’s debate with O.C. Edwards on evangelism. Fitz, as you might imagine was for it. If memory serves me well, Fitz opened with the line “You can be anything and be an Episcopalian. You can be immoral, and you can be heretical; as long as you are not tacky. And apparently there’s something tacky about evangelism.” Yes, it’s easy to be an Episcopalian sitting in the pews. But to be a good Episcopalian today, well this church is no place for ostriches or for the spiritually, intellectually, or morally lazy. There is a theological, moral and demographic challenge every minute (just follow Kendall’s blog and you’ll know what I mean). I should, however, qualify the statement, when I suggest it is easy to be an Episcopalian””good one or bad one””for if we take seriously the recent Hadaway Report, the biggest challenge in many parts of our country may soon be actually finding an Episcopal parish to attend.

Read it all (pdf which includes graphs). Please note that you may find a non-pdf version there (but it doesn’t include the graphs, only links thereto).

It’s a dramatic sight at one of the United States’ historic landmarks. St Margaret’s Episcopal Church is closed on a Sunday, not a person in sight.

The church dates back to the 1800s and this was one of the oldest wooden church still in operation in America. Not anymore, as the Episcopal Diocese of Florida decided to shut it down.

Last Sunday was the final day for services at the church in Hibernia.

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The Search and Nomination Committee has selected five priests to stand for election as the 13th Bishop of Rhode Island.

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Lionel Deimel, a member of St. Paul’s in Mt. Lebanon who blogs on church matters from a liberal perspective, declared his opposition to any local candidate before Father [Scott] Quinn was named. He argued that all local priests carry factional baggage and that the diocese was too ingrown….

The Rev. James Simons, a theological conservative who had a leading role in reorganizing the diocese after the split, hasn’t chosen a candidate yet, and said that the value of an inside candidate depends on the person.

“It can be argued both ways,” he said. “When you elect from within the diocese, the learning curve is less steep. You don’t have to learn the history because you lived the history. On the other hand, sometimes it’s good to have someone looking at things with fresh eyes. It all depends on who that individual is.”

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…for the Apostle Paul, diversity, not uniformity, in every aspect of human life and language and culture, characterizes the unity and catholicity of the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). His own speech, he admits, is “not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).

“Interestingly,” Tim [Griffin] writes, “for purposes of both ecumenical and interfaith discussions, this approach of humble shared ignorance provides a basis of shared experience. We can begin to see that the categories from which we, as Christians and as Episcopalians, have expressed our understanding of the Holy are limited and provisional. When we acknowledge that, we may be more willing to “listen and listen” and hear, to paraphrase Isaiah. And we will no doubt be more willing to show radical hospitality when we acknowledge that our practices are simply ways of clothing the mystery.”

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On Thursday, February 23, the Maryland General Assembly voted 25-22 in favor of Senate Bill 241, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, which is summarized as: “Altering a provision of law to establish that only a marriage between two individuals who are not otherwise prohibited from marrying is valid in the State; prohibiting an official of a religious institution or body authorized to solemnize marriages from being required to solemnize any marriage in violation of the constitutional right to free exercise of religion; etc.” The law is scheduled to go into effect Jan.1, 2013.

The Episcopal Church acts as an agent of the state when its clergy officiate at marriages. The Church also has its own theology and canons, or laws, regarding what Christian marriage is. Our Episcopal Church governing body, the triennial General Convention, passed Resolution C056 at its last meeting in 2009, allowing bishops to provide “generous pastoral response” to members in dioceses where the civil authority has legalized same-gender marriage. The resolution also called for the collection and development of theological and liturgical resources for blessing same-gender unions for review by the next General Convention in 2012….

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Read it all and follow the links for additional information.

A local priest, the Rev. Scott Quinn, has been added to the slate of candidates for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Father Quinn is rector of the Church of the Nativity in Crafton. The election will be held on April 21.

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This was quoted in the first Lenten sermon I preached at the Cathedral Church of the Advent the audio for which was posted Monday, and I have had requests for the citation–KSH.

Courage…is the indispensable requisite of any true ministry…. If you are afraid of men and a slave to their opinion, go and do something else. Go make shoes to fit them. Go even and paint pictures you know are bad but will suit their bad taste. But do not keep on all of your life preaching sermons which shall not say what God sent you to declare, but what they hire you to say. Be courageous. Be independent.

—-Phillips Brooks, Lectures on Preaching, the 1877 Yale Lectures (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1969), p. 59

Part one is here and part two is there. You are encouraged to take the time to listen to (suffer through?) it all.

Please note–these are both audio files. The time begins with a short Q and A to introduce me to those present before the questions shift to the subject at hand. Note, too that Bishop Kee Sloan of Alabama was invited by the Dean, Frank Limehouse, to come, which he (graciously) chose to do. During the time, Dean Limehouse invited Bishop Sloan to speak, and he chose to do so. This covers a wide range of recent events/developments and will be of broad interest to many blog readers–KSH.

According to the U.S.Census Bureau’s figures, Oklahoma has grown in population from 3,450,654 in 2000 to 3,751,351 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 8.7% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Oklahoma went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,290 in 2000 to 5,585 in 2010. This represents a decline of -23.4% during this decade.

Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter “Oklahoma” as the name of the diocese and then “View Diocese Chart” underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.

Seminarians currently enrolled at St. Mary’s served as hosts during the opening day of the first formation weekend in January.

“I think the seminarians at St. Mary understand how significant this is and they have been incredible,” Msgr. [Jeffrey] Steenson told the Texas Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. “They are so energized about this — they know it is historical.”

He credit[s] the “extraordinary efforts and help” and “time and resources” of the archdiocese and Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo with bringing about “exactly what Pope Benedict hoped for — the close relationship with the local diocese and the new ordinariate.”

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First please go here and reread the necessary procedures for a petition nomination. Observe especially the following:

“A petition should come after a prayerful discernment about the preliminary slate and as a way to strengthen the slate,” advises Dean [George] Werner.

A nomination by petition requires ten signatures from individuals representing at least three parishes. Four of those signing must be canonically resident clergy, and of the six lay communicants in good standing in parishes of the diocese, three must be deputies to the Diocesan Convention. The petition must also include the consent signature of the person being nominated.

Now see what you make of Lionel Diemel’s take on this matter.

The Three Main lectures are on the following topics:

“Justification and the Future of Anglicanism”

“Luther and the English Reformation”

“Justification from Hooker to Newman”

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Mighty God, whose Name is blest in the example of thy bishop Charles Todd Quintard, who opposed the segregation of African Americans in separate congregations and condemned the exclusion of the poor: We pray that thy Church may be a refuge for all, for the honor of thy Name; through Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta has announced five priests to stand for election as the next bishop of Atlanta, which serves middle and north Georgia. The five are on a slate that was presented by the Nominating Committee.

The Feb. 13 announcement opens a month-long period during which members of the diocese may petition to add additional names to the ballot….

Read it all and please follow the links.

The Office of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has notified the Diocese of Central Florida that Bishop-Elect Gregory Brewer has received the required majority of consents in the canonical consent process.

As outlined under Canon III.11.4 (a), the Presiding Bishop confirmed the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and has also reviewed the evidence of consents from a majority of standing committees of the Church sent to her by the diocesan standing committee.

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“We have lots of differences of opinion, but we honor the differences we all bring and a have a commitment to live and work together,” said Bishop Mark Beckwith of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, which covers North Jersey. “It’s not a problem in this diocese.”

The new national diocese, called an “ordinariate,” was created to accommodate Episcopal congregations whose members disagree with their church’s liberal stances on matters like same-sex marriage and the ordination of women and gays. The Episcopal Church, the main U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, has some 2 million members.

Beckwith said none of the 106 congregations in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark is planning to leave. And Bishop George Councell, who heads the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, which covers central and southern parts of the state, said the same.

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Listen to it all as you are able (Be aware that the audio begins with the gospel reading and a brief musical interlude before the bishop’s sermon begins)

As leader of one of the 110 dioceses in the Episcopal Church, [Bishop Andy] Doyle said he puts an emphasis on “doing things” instead of “telling people to do things.”

His diocese includes more than 1,400 ministries which range in focus from feeding the poor, sick or elderly, building homes for those affected by natural disasters and buying mosquito nets for African families to protect them from malaria.

“The Episcopal church is a church that very much loves Jesus Christ and is interested in people and getting to know them,” he said. “We have a lot of diversity. God made a lot of different kinds of folks.”

Read it all and please note that the Council has a blog.

Catholics hope their Episcopal neighbors see the initiative positively, as an unprecedented way of honoring the Anglican tradition and its core liturgy, in the Book of Common Prayer, by officially making a place for it in the Catholic Church.

“We aren’t about trying to break up congregations or sheep-stealing. We respect the integrity of these communities,” [Jeffrey] Steenson said. “We’re not about competing for souls. … There is a desire to work together to build up church unity.”

Joseph Britton, dean of Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University, said even from an Anglican perspective, this can be seen as a positive move that opens further opportunities for dialogue.

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The Scriptural argument against same-sex marriage is based on seven references in the Old and New Testaments that condemn homosexual activity. Each one of those passages, however, condemns exploitative sexual activity that is the antithesis of loving, committed relationships. The Bible is silent on the subject of same-gender monogamous relationships.

In contrast, the Bible has strong teachings against divorce. Jesus himself is quite clear on the subject. Yet over the ages, most Christian churches have come to recognize that God forgives the human sin and frailty that precipitate divorce. We now take a more compassionate approach to this issue than our biblical forebears would have condoned. If the teaching on divorce can change in the light of further theological reflection, I believe that the teaching on same-sex relationships can change as well.

However you interpret the seven texts used to argue against marriage equality, they pale in comparison to the over-arching biblical imperatives to love one another, work for justice, and recognize that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God….

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There is enough energy – human, the earth’s, the infinite energy of the divine, to cope with the enormous problems of the world today, chiefly climate change and related human poverty and suffering. It is necessary, though for this energy to be applied and applied wisely for the saving effects to be brought forth. It is too bad that the Roman Catholic Church has chosen to expend funds of its available energy (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/us/catholic-church-unveils-order-for-ex-episcopalians.html) including what might be viewed as a kind of low-level creativity on making a national refuge for disaffected Episcopal priests and the lay people who follow them.

Make no mistake, these angry ex-Episcopal priests and their flocks are not victims; they have not suffered persecution of any sort other than that they are repulsed by the stance of The Episcopal Church on the status of women and of lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual people in the Church and in the world. I can speak with some authority on this, having served in the Episcopal House of Bishops since 2002, a period spanning the explosive events around the election, confirmation, and consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

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Voorhees College will celebrate Absalom Jones, the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, in St. Philip’s Chapel on campus.

The Annual Absalom Jones Feast Day will feature the Right Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, as chief celebrant, and the Right Rev. Mark J. Lawrence, bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, as preacher.

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(Note that I decided to research these numbers based on the preceding post about the bishop of the diocese–KSH).

According to the U.S.Census Bureau’s figures, Springfield, the see city of the diocese, has grown in population from 152,082 in 2000 to 153,060 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 0.6% in this time frame.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Western Massachusetts went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,295 in 2000 to 5,208 in 2010. This represents a decline of 28.6% during this decade.

Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter “Western Massachusetts” as the name of the diocese and then “View Diocese Chart” underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.