Now we are tested again.

Such is the election within the Diocese of Los Angeles, and consented to by a majority of jurisdictional bishops (those who are actually in charge of a diocese) and diocesan Standing Committees (69 out of 110), of the Rev Mary Glasspool to be a Suffragan Bishop (an assistant bishop for the diocese). The problem is that Mary openly admitted at the time of her nomination to an existing “committed” relationship with another woman, clearly implying including a sexual relationship.

Why is that a problem? Very simply, the bible is consistent throughout the Old and New Testament that God has deemed marriage to be between a man and a woman, and God has commanded that no physical sexual acts are to take place between people outside of marriage. No if’s, and’s or but’s.

Of course, this is not a new development. Seven years ago, in 2003, there was the election, consent and consecration of the Rev Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. That event became the tipping point for many in our Church, and which has caused you and I and the parish such grief from our friends and neighbors and former parishioners for still being a parish in The Episcopal Church USA. That your vestry and I have not condoned this rejection of clear biblical standards, in fact actively condemned it, has not lessened the confrontations we have experienced. And it is this very rejection of biblical authority that pushed the diocese of San Joaquin to vote in convention to associate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone (South America).

This is also not a new development for Los Angeles. The Rt Rev Jon Bruno, an old acquaintance of mine, is obviously openly supportive of such an election (or he could have kept her from being nominated), as well as back-door methods of allowing same-sex unions to be “blessed” by members of the clergy when they request it. As well, he hired an already ordained bishop to assist in Los Angeles (who is now retired and thus the need for new assisting bishops) who has also been in a same-sex relationship. +Los Angeles is in great confusion regarding the authority of Holy Scripture.

Read it all.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the national leader of the Episcopal Church in 16 countries, including its 2.4 million members in the U.S., is in Greenville for the consecration today of a new bishop for the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Rev. Andrew Waldo.

She said fallout from the 2003 decision to consecrate Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire appears to have settled out for the most part.

“The reactivity right now is much, much less than it was seven years ago,” she said during an interview at Christ Church, where Waldo’s consecration will take place.

“I think the church, and certainly the part of the church in the United States, is reasonably clear about where we’re going, even though everybody doesn’t agree. And those in the church, I think, are willing to live with that tension.”

Read it all.

he General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada is meeting in Halifax, June 3 to 11 under the theme: Feeling the Winds of God-Charting a New Course.

Substantial amounts of time are allocated for reports on work mandated by the 2007 General Synod including on-going deliberations over issues of human
sexuality, VISION 2019 (a strategic plan for the Church) and a review of primacy and governance.

The synod will also consider resolutions generated by its standing committees.

Read it all.

The Diocese of Polynesia has elected a native of Tonga, the Rt. Rev. Winston Halapua to serve as its next Archbishop.

On May 12, the General Synod of the Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia meeting in Gisborne, New Zealand announced it had affirmed the decision of the diocese’s electoral synod held in Fiji. On April 29 the Diocese of Polynesia met in Suva to elect a successor to Archbishop Jabez Bryce, who died on Feb 11. The results of the balloting were forwarded to the church’s archbishops, who will then polled the 120 members of synod, seeking their approval for the election

Read it all.

The idea of a football star receiving lenient treatment after testing positive for drug use would raise no eyebrows at most colleges. But the United States Naval Academy “holds itself to a higher standard,” as its administrators are fond of saying. According to policy set by the chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, himself a former commandant of midshipmen at the academy, we have a “zero tolerance” policy for drug use.

Yet, according to Navy Times, a running back was allowed to remain at Annapolis this term because the administration accepted his claim that he smoked a cigar that he didn’t know contained marijuana. (He was later kicked off the team for a different infraction, and has now left the academy.)

The incident brings to light an unpleasant truth: the Naval Academy, where I have been a professor for 23 years, has lost its way. The same is true of the other service academies. They are a net loss to the taxpayers who finance them, as well as a huge disappointment to their students, who come expecting reality to match reputation. They need to be fixed or abolished.

Read it all.

At home in Nigeria, the Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio draws thousands to her revival meetings. Last August, when she had herself consecrated Christendom’s first “lady apostle,” Nigerian politicians and Nollywood actors attended the ceremony. Her books and DVDs, which explain how Satan possesses children, are widely known.

So well-known, in fact, that Ms. Ukpabio’s critics say her teachings have contributed to the torture or abandonment of thousands of Nigerian children ”” including infants and toddlers ”” suspected of being witches and warlocks. Her culpability is a central contention of “Saving Africa’s Witch Children,” a documentary that made its American debut Wednesday on HBO2.

Read it all.

A Catholic understanding of good end-of-life care is “both-and”: both upholding the sanctity of life and accepting the inevitability of death. Some people may be more concerned about the danger that patients may be neglected or may fail to get the treatment or care they need. Others may worry more about modern medicine being over-zealous and imposing unwanted, unnecessary and burdensome treatment. The Catholic approach is to recognise both dangers and guard people from both kinds of harm.

Read it all.

The resignation of Dennis C. Blair as director of national intelligence was the product of personal as well as institutional failings. A retired admiral with a distinguished record of service, Mr. Blair’s political judgment looked questionable from the beginning of his DNI tenure, when he nominated a former ambassador with close ties to China and Saudi Arabia — and crackpot views about the Israel “lobby” — to chair the National Intelligence Council. After the failed Christmas Day airplane bombing, Mr. Blair told Congress that the Nigerian suspect should have been questioned by the interagency interrogation group created by the administration for terrorism cases — only to acknowledge later that the team had not yet been launched.

Read it all.

In Kandahar, the Taliban’s most powerful weapon has become the calculated assassination. The tools of this campaign are rudimentary — ropes, knives, old rifles — but the results have been devastating. By executing those who work or sympathize with the government, the Taliban has made clear that those supporting the American military effort here are risking their lives. Each new death brings more dread in a city of hunters and hunted.

“They’re watching us. We don’t know who, but they’re watching,” Ahmad said. “Nowhere is safe. We cannot escape.”

The killings take aim at the fundamental goal of the U.S. military’s planned summer offensive in Kandahar: to build a credible local government that responds to the needs of the people. In the past month, about six people have quit the already understaffed provincial government, and other federal ministry representatives in the province have taken leave. Targeted by bombs and killings of their local staff, foreigners working for U.S. government contractors and the United Nations have fled for Kabul.

Read it all..