epiScope

Return to Laramie

Columbus church produces ‘The Laramie Project’
By MATT SCHAFER
Southern Voice (GA)
MAY. 16, 2008

St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ga., is staging a May 18 production of the “The Laramie Project,” a play chronicling the aftershocks of gay college student Matthew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998.

As part of the church’s 50th anniversary celebration, St. Thomas has staged a series of events to reach out to different aspects of Columbus’ community, including hosting forums on racism and the Anglican ambassador to the United Nations.

“The Episcopal Church has never been shy in understanding that faith relates to real life,” said Debbie Anderson, co-director of the play.

It’s all here …

The church together

Church must grow with the times
By The Rev. Elsa H. Mintz
Daily Local
May 16, 2008

As the rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Glenmoore, I would like to respond to a letter that was published about our church on Friday, May 9, 2008.

Our children’s choir has a favorite anthem whose words are, “I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.” They understand that the church is its people, its mission and its ministry. The church is not the building in which we worship.

St. Andrew’s is a growing, vibrant congregation that reaches beyond our walls to the community. We have a minimum of five outreach collections going on at any particular time. This month we are collecting for the Lord’s Pantry, our adopted platoon in Afghanistan, the Atkinson Center and House of His Creation. Our children are sharing their allowance to buy mosquito nets to protect against malaria. In 2007, in addition to the individual collections, we contributed $28,600 to 23 charities.

It’s all here … and inscribe these words on the front door, Mo. Elsa! 

Honor returns

Legendary figure recalled in new book
By JEFF THEODORE
Jersey City (NJ) JOURNAL
May 16, 2008

Tonight, Honor returns to Jersey City's Grace Van Vorst Church. Honor Moore, that is.

Moore, daughter of highly respected Episcopal bishop Paul Moore, who once served as rector at Grace Van Vorst, will read portions and sign copies of her new book, "The Bishop's Daughter," at the church. It's one of the main events for the church's annual Cathedral Arts Festival.

In "Bishop's Daughter," (WW Norton Press, $25.95) Honor Moore details a topsy-turvy relationship with her father, perhaps the best known Episcopal clergy figure in the nation, during his two-decade tenure as leader of the Episcopal Church in New York.

It’s all here …

Proposition 22 Overturned

Local advocates cheer clear path to gay marriage
Proponents celebrate at SLO courthouse Thursday, but opponents say the state Supreme Court ruling ignores the will of voters who passed a ban in 2000
By Tonya Strickland
May. 16, 2008

Local gay-marriage proponents celebrated what they called an important step toward equality Thursday after the state’s highest court overturned a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages in California.

But the decision striking down Proposition 22 left some locals complaining that the state Supreme Court disregarded the will of people.
…
“This is a landmark day for the gay and lesbian community,” said the Rev. Caroline Hall of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Los Osos. “It’s a tremendous sense of the vindication that we should not be discriminating against gay and lesbian civil rights and that (gays and lesbians) should have the same legal and civil protections that everyone else has.”
…
Hall has officiated about five local spiritual same-sex ceremonies in the past four to five years (the state had previously allowed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples). She said the ruling Thursday upholds the religious freedoms of leaders such as herself to marry same-sex couples.

“Not being able to marry gay people in legal ceremonies was against my own values,” she said. “I felt like I should have been able to marry people both spiritually and legally and, until now, I was limited to simply spiritually.”

It’s all here …

Local Gays Celebrate CA Supreme Court Ruling
LGBTQ Community Stresses Many Additional Obstacles Remain in the Fight for Equality
By Brooke Elliot and Laura Wiesenberg
Daily Nexus
May 16, 2008

Following yesterday’s California Supreme Court decision to end a ban on same-sex marriage, the local gay community celebrated and declared the ruling a victory on the path toward equality.
…
Also present at the courthouse were several members of the religious community, including Reverend Mark Asman of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara. Asman said the gay and lesbian community should not merely celebrate the victory, but commemorate the work of past activists.

“We stand on the shoulders of women and men who have fought for us,” Asman said. “It’s not enough for us to just be happy today; we need to get organized.”

It’s all here …

Area gay, lesbian couples to wed
By Fred Ortega
Pasadena (CA) Star News
05/15/2008

…
The Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena said she is thrilled that her church, which has been blessing same sex unions for 15 years, will soon be able to offer official wedding rites.

"It is a very exciting day," said Russell, who had her union with her partner blessed at All Saints last year. But she acknowledged the continuing efforts to outlaw same-sex weddings.

"It is not the end of the story by any means," she said, noting the court's decision means homosexual persons are entitled to equal protection under law. "But it is a huge step nonetheless."

It’s all here …and here's the response from some of California's Episcopal bishops...

Mugabe targets Anglicans

Zimbabwe’s Rulers Unleash Police on Anglicans
By CELIA W. DUGGER
The New York Times
May 16, 2008

JOHANNESBURG — The parishioners were lined up for Holy Communion on Sunday when the riot police stormed the stately St. Francis Anglican Church in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital. Helmeted, black-booted officers banged on the pews with their batons as terrified members of the congregation stampeded for the doors, witnesses said.

A policeman swung his stick in vicious arcs, striking matrons, a girl and a grandmother who had bent over to pick up a Bible dropped in the melee. A lone housewife began singing from a hymn in Shona, “We will keep worshiping no matter the trials!” Hundreds of women, many dressed in the Anglican Mothers’ Union uniform of black skirt, white shirt and blue headdress, lifted their voices to join hers.

Beneath their defiance, though, lay raw fear as the country’s ruling party stepped up its campaign of intimidation ahead of a presidential runoff. In a conflict that has penetrated ever deeper into Zimbabwe’s social fabric, the party has focused on a growing roster of groups that elude its direct control — a list that includes the Anglican diocese of Harare, as well as charitable and civic organizations, trade unions, teachers, independent election monitors and the political opposition.

It’s all here …

New ministries

Special event will welcome new priest to community
By DEB WUETHRICH
Tecumseh (MI) Herald
05/15/2008

Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr., of the Episcopal Diocese of Detroit will be in Tecumseh on Tuesday, May 20, to conduct a service welcoming The Reverend Robin Smith to the area, and the community is invited. A 7 p.m. ceremony entitled, “Celebration of Mutual Ministry and Welcoming of our Priest in Charge” will be held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church that evening.

When Mother Robin, as she is called, was invited to the community last December while being considered as a candidate to minister to Eastern Lenawee Ministries, which encompasses St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Tecumseh and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clinton, she and her family were greeted with an ice storm. After accepting the position as priest in January, Mother Robin and her family arrived in Clinton during one of this season’s big snowstorms. It will be interesting to see what type of weather greets her during a special event in her honor on Tuesday, but Mother Robin thinks things are looking up.

It’s all here …

Christ Episcopal donates Jetter Community Center
By Danica Baker
Clinton (IA) Herald
May 15, 2008

CLINTON — The Vincent H. Jetter Community Center now belongs to the center’s Board of Directors thanks to a donation of the building by the Christ Episcopal Church of Clinton.

Rev. Mother Sue Eads, of the Christ Episcopal Church, said Jetter greatly impacted the lives of young people in the Clinton area and said the building will continue to make a difference in the lives of area youth.

“Vince had such a nice vision for the youth of this community, it’s nice to see it carried on,” said Eads.

It’s all here …

A house divided

A breakaway Anglican faction is protesting what they believe is the church's veering from traditional teachings
Rachel De Lazzer
The Hamilton Spectator (Canada)
May 15, 2008

It was an awkward Sunday.

Church members divided, sharing the same building.

One service run by a priest from the national church body, the other by the church's pastor.

Kay Mighton attended the first service at St. George's Anglican in Lowville on February 24 and thought it was "beautiful." A priest from the Niagara diocese presided.

But leaving was uncomfortable.

It’s all here …

Mark your calendars

Grace case going to trial
Colorado Springs Independent
May 15, 2008

The dispute between the Episcopal Diocese and breakaway congregants over who owns Grace Church will have to be settled at trial, a judge ruled this week. District Court Judge Larry Schwartz ruled the matter could not be settled based on the law alone.

The Rev. Don Armstrong and other church leaders voted last year to leave the American Episcopal Church in favor of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a mission of the conservative Church of Nigeria. The move prompted a lawsuit when stayed firmly planted in the $17 million church.

A Grace official told the Denver Post he expects a trial to begin early next year.

It’s all here …

Church worker accused of theft

Church worker accused of stealing $80,000
Austin (TX) American Statesman
May 15, 2008

Killeen police have arrested a woman who they say stole more than $80,000 from a church where she worked as an administrative assistant.

On Wednesday, a Bell County grand jury indicted Paula Cecil on a charge of misapplication of fiduciary funds, a Killeen police news release said. Bail was set at $100,000.

In early January, officials at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church called police after they were notified by their bank that numerous checks had been paid to a church employee, police said. After an audit, officials discovered that Cecil had used church money for her personal use starting in August, police said.

It’s all here …

Grand jury indicts woman in case of church embezzlement
by Paul A. Romer
Temple (TX) Telegram
May 15, 2008

BELTON - A Bell County grand jury indicted a 40-year-old woman Wednesday on charges related to the embezzlement of more than $60,000 from St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Killeen.

Charlene Smith, parish administrator at St. Christopher’s, said the woman listed in the indictment, Paula Cecil, was a former administrative assistant at the church who was fired in January.

The two-count indictment alleges that from April 2007 until January 2008 Ms. Cecil cashed or deposited 95 checks from the church ranging from $20 to $1,480.

It’s all here …

$80,000 Stolen From Central Texas Church

(May 14, 2008)—The Bell County Grand Jury Wednesday indicted Paula Cecil of Fort Hood in connection with the theft of more than $80,000 from St Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Killeen.

Killeen police have been investigating the theft since Jan. 9, when church officials reported a discrepancy in financial records.

Police were called after Extraco Bank advised the church that a number of checks had been paid to the same church employee over a period of about five months.

It’s all here …

Former church worker indicted
By Justin Cox
Killeen (TX) Daily Herald
May 15, 2008

Even churches have to be careful about who they trust these days.

It's hard to blame them, especially after a former employee of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Killeen was indicted Wednesday on felony charges of fraud and theft. She is accused of embezzling more than $80,000 of the church's money and taking it for herself.

A Bell County grand jury indicted 40-year-old Paula Cecil, of Fort Hood, on two counts of misapplication of fiduciary property, more than $20,000 but less than $100,000, for an alleged scheme in which she wrote out checks to herself over a period between April 16, 2007, and Jan. 7 of this year.

It’s all here …

Commitments

Till death do us part
By Christine Whittaker
Hopkinton (MA) Crier
May 15, 2008

Hopkinton - One of the most solemn moments in a church wedding occurs immediately after the bride and groom make their vows and exchange rings.  The celebrant takes their hands, wraps them with the priestly stole, and pronounces that they are husband and wife, adding:  "Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder."

The sad truth, however, is that close to half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce and marriages solemnized in a church are not significantly more likely to endure.  Moreover, second marriages have a higher failure rate than first marriages.
…
The Christian church continues to proclaim that marriage is a sacred covenant intended to be a faithful, monogamous and lifelong commitment.  Thus, the breakdown of a marriage produces a serious challenge for the Church.  In the Episcopal Church, we try to hold together two positions that are in tension with each other. The Episcopal Church has considerable experience in following this sort of middle way, given its heritage as a church with both Catholic and Protestant roots in the English Reformation.

It’s all here …

Building an Ireland for all

McAleese warns we are at 'zero hour' as a society
President says now a critical time for future generations
By John Cooney
May 15 2008

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese told clergy yesterday that Ireland was at "a kind of zero-hour" when the direction it takes will affect generations to come.

Addressing the Church of Ireland Synod, Mrs McAleese said that after decades of conflict, Ireland could either construct a world of humanly decent values, or sow "another bitter harvest of dysfunction".

She said peace and prosperity had transformed Ireland but that social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse and community violence remained.

It was the first time that a sitting President of Ireland had addressed the Synod, and Mrs McAleese was given a standing ovation for using the occasion to reflect on "the significant journeys" Catholics and Protestants had made.

It’s all here …

Deliver us from evil!

How one woman's extraordinary bravery is a haunting rebuke to a world that is ignoring Mugabe's genocide
By Peter Oborne in Zimbabwe
Daily Mail (UK)
15-May-2008

Robert Mugabe's paid assassins came hunting for 22-year-old Memory, a married mother-of-two. They burst into her home, seized her and her children, and took them to their temporary headquarters in the local village school. Four men held down her arms and legs, while a fifth gripped her head, placing his hands over her mouth to prevent her screams being heard. Two others, wielding heavy wooden poles, then took turns to thrash her on the buttocks in a beating that lasted half an hour. I saw Memory in her hospital bed after she had been brought in from the bush more dead than alive a week ago last Monday, several days after her beating. She was lying on her front: it was obvious why. Where her buttocks should have been was just a mess of raw flesh.

It’s all here …and steel yourself to read this story all the way through. It is horrific. Note also, please...

Trouble in South Africa

'Inequality a result of Alex violence'
15 May 2008

The violence in Alexandra is caused by frustration over South Africa's failure to distribute the gains of economic wealth to all, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Reverend Thabo Makgoba said on Thursday.

"But it is unacceptable for those who suffer poverty and deprivation to express their anger by attacking others who are also suffering from poverty and deprivation," he said.

Makgoba said it was sad that foreign people were labelled, abused and killed.

It’s all here … and Loraine Tulleken of the Anglican Church of South Africa has just notified us that

Newly installed Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, who grew up in Alex, is flying up  from Cape Town tomorrow (Friday 16th May)  and has invited an ecumenical delegation  (leaders from other churches) to join him.

Keep him in your prayers.

Not just wings, but the whole bird

The resilient Religious Right
By Henry G. Brinton
USAToday

Despite the rumors, conservative Christianity is alive and well in the USA, still flexing its moral muscle. And that’s a good thing. For those who might cheer its demise fail to see that religious vitality is actually strengthened by the creative tension between the left and the right.
…
Across the street from my church in Fairfax, Va., members of the Episcopal Truro Church are locked in a fierce legal battle with the Episcopal Church USA. The church is leaving the denomination over issues of scriptural authority and the ordination of gays and lesbians — particularly Gene Robinson, the gay bishop of New Hampshire. And my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), is losing congregations every year to more conservative Presbyterian groups.

It’s all here …

St. John's Depot Hill Property Sold for $2.7M

Historic Building Will Become a Private Home
Sold for $2.75 million for use as a private residence.
By Aldwin Fajardo

The picturesque Victorian building on Depot Hill in Capitola, which for more than a century has been home to the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist, will soon be a private residence. A family purchased the property for $2.7 million.

The sale paved the road for construction of a new St. John's Church to start on the corner of McGregor Drive and Sea Ridge Road in Aptos, which the congregation bought in 1991. Much of the surrounding acreage is now a community of affordable houses with a planned small park.

St. John's Church set aside some $1.8 million from the sale proceeds of the half-acre Depot Hill property for the Aptos construction project, which will also be partially financed by $3 million from the church's capital fundraising campaign. The multimillion-dollar construction project, which started Apr. 28, will be completed between February and March of 2009, according to Anne Baker, chair of the building committee for St. John's Church.

It’s all here …

Episcopal Diocese sues for control of Groton church

Dispute over theology, appointment of gay bishop in play
AP
May 13, 2008

Connecticut's Episcopal Diocese has filed a lawsuit against the leadership of the Bishop Seabury Church, demanding it turn over control of the church property after voting to leave the national church in a dispute over theology and the appointment of a gay bishop.

The Rev. Ronald Gauss was suspended by the church May 3, when it appointed another priest, the Rev. David Cannon, to take over at Bishop Seabury. Rev. Gauss and 12 former and current church leaders were served this week with the lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court.

"The parish has been a valued member of our Diocese for over a century and the departure of parishioners, while regretted, will not end that storied history," the diocese said in a statement posted on its Web site.

It’s all here …and there's that "appointment" thing. Folks, when you see a story in November that says voters have appointed their new President, this locution will make sense...until then, it's election.

Reaching out

Bishop hails Qatar’s steps to improve inter-faith ties
Gulf Times
14 May, 2008

THE Bishop of Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf of the Episcopal Church (Anglicans) in Jerusalem and The Middle East, Michael Lewis, has hailed the steps being made by Qatar government for improving relations between people of different faiths.

Lewis, who is in Qatar for an activity connected with the establishment of his community’s QR35mn Anglican Church in Mesaimer, said people could look forward to participate in more meaningful, concrete and cordial dialogues between representatives of different faiths, as a result of what he described as “the atmosphere ushered in by the rulers of this country”.

It’s all here …

Waukesha monastery seeks update

Order of Julian of Norwich will ask to expand living quarters
By DARRYL ENRIQUEZ
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
May 14, 2008

Waukesha - A monastery of monks and nuns with ties to a 14th-century saint will ask the Plan Commission tonight for permission to update and expand its main living quarters on the west side of Waukesha.

The Order of Julian of Norwich is seeking approval of a 3,400-square-foot addition to the monastery at 2812 Summit Ave.

Doug Koehler, a city planner, said plans call for a new wing to connect two existing buildings - the main chapel and the living quarters, converted from an old farmhouse. The wing also will contain four dormitory rooms, he said.

It’s all here … and to learn more about the Order of Julian of Norwich and its monastery, go to www.orderofjulian.org.

Not all who wander are lost...

A religious haven for the estranged
By David O'Reilly
Philadelphia Inquirer

The cockeyed iron crucifix inside St. Miriam Catholic Church in Roxborough is just one clue that this is no ordinary Catholic parish.

That box of yarmulkes down the hall is another. So are the presence of the pastor's life partner, and the wooden Torah ark behind the altar.

Yet as the Rev. Jim St. George crouches over a gold chalice and utters the familiar words of consecration - "When the supper was ended, he took the cup" - all those differences seem to vanish.

This is a Catholic Mass.

It is not, however, a Roman Catholic Mass.

It’s all here …

Give me rewrite

Delaware diocese quiet over gay bishop’s visit
By Melissa K. Steele
Dover (DE) Post

A Spring Clergy Day sponsored by the Episcopal Church Diocese of Delaware was held Tuesday at Christ Church in Dover featuring Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay prelate to be ordained by any mainstream religious organization.

“This was scheduled a year ago because he has such a busy schedule,” said diocese spokesman the Rev. Gary L. Rowe. “Spring Clergy Day is for Gene Robinson to come and have a conversation.”

Whether or not that conversation would include discussion of the Anglican Church’s upcoming Lambeth Conference, in which there is a possibility the English church could cut its ties with the American branch, remains unknown.

“I wouldn’t assume anything,” Rowe said.

It’s all here … and here’s another one of those stories that reads like the reporter took notes really fast over the phone—kinda garbled: not always wrong, but not quite right either. Have at it…

Christ Church installs new rector — with Bishop's help

Melton becomes Christ Episcopal's 33rd pastor
By DIANA MAZZELLA
Justin Falls/The Daily Advance
Thursday, May 15, 2008

As he knelt before the altar of Christ Episcopal Church Tuesday, the Rev. Brent Melton promised to serve both the Lord and the community that's been his home since December.

"To you and to your service I devote myself, body, soul and spirit," Melton said, reading from the Common Book of Prayer, the main liturgical handbook of the Episcopal church.

The pledge was part of Melton's installation as rector of Christ Episcopal, the 33rd person to hold that title since John Avery became the first in 1825. His name joins those of the church's other rectors on a marble plaque at the rear of the church.

It’s all here …

She's baa-aaack...

...and many, many thanks to Program Officer for Public Affairs Neva Rae Fox for taking the 'Scope as your editor was away dealing with a death in the family. It's good to be back.

Watch the PB talk to the media

Presiding Bishop to address the media on Lambeth Conference
Episcopal Life Online
May 14, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will address members of the media about the Lambeth Conference on Tuesday, May 20 in a live webcast at the Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Ave., New York City. The webcast will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern time (1 p.m. Central, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific).

Joining the Presiding Bishop will be the Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas of Episcopal Divinity School, who is a member of the Lambeth Conference Design Group.

All are welcome to view the live webcast, which will be available through a direct link on the homepage of Episcopal Church website. Questions, however, will be accepted only from credentialed media. The Lambeth Conference will be the only topic discussed at this event.

Advanced media credentials are required; a media credential application form is available here.

Questions can be addressed to Neva Rae Fox, program officer for public affairs, newsline@episcopalchurch.org

Episcopal Life Online article is here

Rowan Williams writes

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has issued his Pentecost letter.  Take a look....

Archbishop of Canterbury writes to the bishops of the Anglican Communion
Episcopal Life Online
May 12, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has sent an open letter to the bishops of the Anglican Communion in advance of the 2008 Lambeth Conference, set for July 16-August 4 at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.

The full text of the May 12 letter follows.

The Feast of Pentecost is a time when we give thanks that God, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, makes us able to speak to each other and to the whole world of the wonderful things done in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a good moment to look forward prayerfully to the Lambeth Conference, asking God to pour out the Spirit on all of us as we make ready for this time together, so that we shall indeed be given grace to speak boldly in his Name.

Read it all here....

Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, makes unity plea
The Times, UK
by Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent
May 12, 2008

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has admitted the coming Lambeth Conference of the Anglican Church's bishops from around the world may well be a "painful" experience for many.

But he said he hoped a "way forward" could be found in a Church facing almost inevitable schism between the liberal West and evangelical South over the issues of homosexual ordination and same-sex blessing services.

Read it all here...

Presiding Bishop writes to Henry Orombi

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori sent the following letter to the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi.

May 12, 2008

The Most Revd Henry Luke Orombi
Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala
PO Box 14123
Kampala
UGANDA
EAST AFRICA

My dear brother,

I understand from advertising here that you plan to visit a congregation in the Diocese of Georgia on 14 May of this year.  The diocesan, Bishop Henry Louttit, has not given any invitation for you to do so, nor received any information from you about your planned visit.  I must protest this unwarranted incursion into The Episcopal Church.  I am concerned that you seem to feel it appropriate to visit, preach, and exercise episcopal ministry within the territory of this Church, and I wonder how you would receive similar behavior in Uganda.  These actions violate the spirit and letter of the work of the Windsor Report, and only lead to heightened tensions.  We are more than willing to receive you for conversation, dialogue, and reconciliation, yet you continue to act without speaking with us.  I hope and pray that you might respond to our invitation and meet with representatives of this Church. 

I remain

Your servant in Christ,

Katharine Jefferts Schori

cc:  Bishop Louttit
      Abp Rowan Williams