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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 …

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.”
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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

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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...

Hotbed

Nigeria: Hotbed of Homophobic Violence
by Scott Stiffler
Boston EDGE
Apr 17, 2008

Even in Africa--a continent not known for its gay-friendly cultures or governments---Nigeria stands out for the virulence and violence against gay men in particular as well as lesbians.
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"The real threat of death or serious injury is not from legal actions by the state, but from mob violence and unofficial actions by the police who are a law unto themselves," says Davis Mac-Iyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria. "In that way, there is very little difference between North and South."

Mac-Iyalla, currently living in exile, emphasizes another troublesome similarity between the Christian south and a Muslim north: "One of the few common perspectives between Islam and popular Christianity in Nigeria is a hatred of homosexuality."

It’s all here …

Bully pulpit

Archbishop criticises gay threats
Dr Williams criticised what he called "unchristian bullying"
BBC

The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned death threats made against the leader of a group representing homosexual Anglicans in England.

Dr Rowan Williams said threats against Rev Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, marked the "latest round of unchristian bullying".

He was also criticising assaults on gay Anglicans in Nigeria.

It’s all here …

Row on archbishop 'immoral' claim
Welsh assembly in Cardiff Bay
Some Welsh law-making is possible in consultation with the UK government
BBC

The archbishop of Wales says it would be "immoral" for Wales not to have full law-making powers in the near future.

But Conservative Monmouth MP David Davies said his comments were "disappointing" and there were more pressing issues he could speak out on.

Barry Morgan spoke to BBC Radio Wales in his role as chair of Tomorrow's Wales, which looks at devolution.

It’s all here …

Speaking up

Local parish opposes Episcopal Church’s stance on gays
Alan Reed
The Dickinson Press
April 06, 2008

DICKINSON - Though small in number, the officers and most of the 44 active baptized members of Dickinson’s St. John’s Episcopal Church are speaking loudly in opposition to their bishop’s decision to not license a partnered gay priest in Grand Forks.

The Rev. Bruce MacDuffie said their position is not to champion the cause of the Rev. Gayle Baldwin, 62, an associate professor of religion at the University of North Dakota. Instead, the Dickinson parish opposes Bishop Michael Smith’s general position on not licensing partnered gay and lesbian people.

“We can’t presume to be the personnel judges of the individual, but the bishop doesn’t cite personnel reasons as the reason for not licensing,” MacDuffie said. “But rather states plainly that he will not license gay and lesbian folks who are in faithful and committed relationships.”

It’s all here …

Bishop readies for next round

Key conference, book lie ahead for Robinson
By Michael Paulson
Boston (MA) Globe
March 25, 2008

CONCORD, N.H. - Five years after he was consecrated a bishop in a nearby hockey arena, wearing a bulletproof vest under his new golden vestments, Gene Robinson is bracing for another round of controversy.

Next month, his new book is to be published, and in it, amid the assertions of his deep faith in Jesus and a self-examination of his theological beliefs, are the emphatic expressions of disappointment in the leadership of his Anglican Church. Robinson is frustrated that those Anglican leaders, known as primates, asked for time to consider the issues but then refused to meet with him.

In June, Robinson plans to enter into a civil union with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew. He says he will do everything he can to keep photographers away, out of deference to those who find his same-sex relationship offensive, but he acknowledges that the event is likely to attract negative attention nonetheless.

It’s all here …

Request denied

Baldwin brings gay priest issue to light
Stephen J. Lee
Grand Forks Herald
March 21, 2008

A Grand Forks priest went public this Holy Week with her request to the Episcopal bishop of North Dakota for a license to minister here.

An associate professor of religion at UND, the Rev. Gayle Baldwin, 62, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1980 in Wyoming. Before coming to UND in 2000, she served in several parishes, last in the Wyoming diocese, where she has a license to preach and administer the sacraments.

That’s where she was when she came out as a lesbian a decade ago.

She says she’s remained silent for 10 years. But, partly because the issue of gay clergy is dividing the Episcopal Church rather dramatically now, Baldwin decided to press the issue. She issued a letter this week to Episcopal leaders explaining her wish to be licensed in North Dakota.

It’s all here …

Lesbian priest says she wants license to minister in ND
March 21, 2008

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—A lesbian priest says she wants to start a dialogue with church leaders after the Episcopal bishop of North Dakota refused her request for a license to minister in the state.

The Rev. Gayle Baldwin, 62, an associate professor of religion at the University of North Dakota, was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1980. She came out as a lesbian a decade ago in Wyoming, where she has a license to preach and administer the sacraments. She came to UND in 2000.

Baldwin went public this week with a letter Episcopal leaders explaining her request to be licensed in North Dakota.

It’s all here …

'For the Bible Tells Me So' builds bridges

Documentary opens at Red River Friday
By Victoria Shouldis
The Concord Monitor
March 13, 2008

Daniel Kerslake never expected to make a movie exploring the biblical take on homosexuality. He never expected to gain the trust and full cooperation of New Hampshire's Gene Robinson, the first openly gay person to be named Bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Then he attended a Michael Moore movie.

Kerslake's movie For The Bible Tells Me So, looks at interpretations in religious texts about homosexuality, offering literal quotes countered by more contextual interpretations. Throughout, Kerslake personalizes the struggle between conservative Christianity and gays and lesbians and their families.

It’s all here …

The bishop's take
By VICTORIA SHOULDIS
The Concord Monitor
March 13, 2008

At the time he was asked to participate in For the Bible Tells Me So, Gene Robinson had been elected but not yet consecrated as New Hampshire Bishop of the Anglican Church. His election resulted in endless coverage and debate about his being the first openly gay bishop, and he was ready to take a giant step out of the public eye to focus his energy on his new role.

But he found himself saying yes to filmmaker Daniel Kerslake anyway.

"Well, as I've learned, I'm not going to be out of the limelight - that's not the way life is going to be for me," said Robinson earlier this week from Florida, where he is attending a conference. "More importantly, though, Daniel struck me as genuine and authentic in his presentation. A voice in my head told me to trust him, and I did. And that voice was right."

It’s all here …

Bill would ban discrimination

Governor opposes bias based on sexual orientation
BY JOHN JOHNSTON
Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer
March 12, 2008

Ohio legislators are making another attempt - the fourth in six years - to pass a bill that would make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
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Rev. Paula Jackson is pastor of the Church of Our Saviour, an Episcopal church in Mount Auburn that long has advocated for gays.

"I actually have parishioners - they're law-abiding, tax-paying, God-fearing, church-going family-oriented people - who have had exemplary employment records and have lost their jobs when the boss one day figured out they were gay or lesbian," she said.

"The boss would never come right out and say that's why, but everybody knew that was why. It was not the sort of thing the person could do anything about because there's no protection. And it's a tragedy, because you've got a parent supporting a child."

It’s all here …

AbC's "non-offer" rejected

Gay bishop criticises Williams for Lambeth snub
Riazat Butt
The Guardian (UK)
March 11 2008

The gay American bishop whose ordination caused ructions in the Anglican church has criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury for his failure to unite the communion.

Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire, made the remarks after declining to attend the Lambeth conference, the 10-yearly gathering of the world's bishops, because his invitation was a "non-offer".

He told a spring gathering of the US Episcopal Church House of Bishops: "It has been a very difficult 48 hours sitting here and hearing your plans for Lambeth.

"In my most difficult moments it feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd."

It’s all here …

Gay Bishop Out of Anglican Summit
By RACHEL ZOLL
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The first openly gay Episcopal bishop announced he will have no official role in a meeting this summer of world Anglican leaders, saying restrictions that organizers wanted to place on his involvement had caused him "considerable pain."

New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson had been told last year that he could not fully participate in the once-a-decade gathering in England, called the Lambeth Conference, as the world Anglican Communion sat on the brink of schism over his 2003 election.

Still, Episcopal leaders had been negotiating with the Anglican Communion Office to allow him to join the event in some capacity. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S.

At a Texas meeting Monday night of the Episcopal House of Bishops, Robinson said that the final offer to include him was in effect a "non-offer," and he had declined it.

It’s all here …

Gay bishop won't attend conference
V. Gene Robinson said he would not have been allowed to actively participate in the global gathering of Anglicans in London.
By Rebecca Trounson
Los Angeles Times
March 11, 2008

The Episcopal Church's only openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, said Monday that he would not attend a global gathering of Anglicans in London this summer, telling fellow Episcopal leaders he had declined an offer that he said would not have allowed him to play any meaningful role at that meeting.

Robinson, who is attending a retreat this week in Texas with other Episcopal bishops, told the group he had decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference, after negotiations for him to participate or be granted official observer status had failed. His remarks were released by the Episcopal Church late Monday.

The Lambeth Conference is a once-a-decade gathering of leaders of the Anglican Communion, the world's third- largest Christian denomination. It is hosted by the archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Rev. Rowan Williams.

It’s all here …

Gay priest not welcome at world meeting
By Michael Conlon
Reuters
March 11, 2008

LEADERS of the US Episcopal Church were told that the gay man they elevated to bishop will not be allowed to attend a top, once-a-decade worldwide Anglican Church meeting this year.

"It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams), has cut me out of the herd," said Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, after receiving the definitive word that he will be excluded from the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in England.

It was the US church's consecration of Bishop Robinson in 2003 as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in more than four centuries of Anglican Church history that jolted the 77 million-member global church, already divided over biblical interpretation, the ordination of women and the blessing of same-sex unions.

It’s all here …

Gay bishop excluded from world church meeting
Malaysia Sun
11th March, 2008 

Leaders of the US Episcopal Church have been told that a gay man who was once elevated to bishop will be unable to attend the worldwide Anglican church meeting this summer.

According to Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, he has been told by his superiors in the Anglican Communion that he will be asked to stay away from the Lambeth Conference in England.

It is believed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the decision after the US branch of the Anglican church negotiated the issue in an effort to have Bishop Robinson attend the conference.

It’s all here …

Fitting in

MBC professor to read from his novel 'Square Peg in a Round Hole'
By Mindi Westhoff/staff
Staunton (VA) News Leader

STAUNTON — To thine own self be true.

Many have heard Shakespeare's famous words, but Mary Baldwin Associate Professor of Communication Bruce Joffe believes them so fiercely, he made the sentiment the message of his new book.

The autobiographical "Square Peg in a Round Hole" chronicles Joffe's daunting and often painful journey to accepting his homosexuality, an experience Joffe believes many "baby boomer" men share.
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Joffe will read an excerpt from his book Saturday at Emmanuel Episcopal Church where he and his partner Russell Warren are members.

It’s all here …

Crew's in Cowtown

Rutgers professor to speak at Fort Worth church
By Terry Lee Goodrich
Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram
Feb. 23, 2008

Integrity Fort Worth -- a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Episcopalians and their straight friends -- will host a lecture by national Integrity founder Louie Crew on March 1 at Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth.

Some Episcopalians are threatening to split from the Episcopal Church because of its inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life and ministry of the church. But others agree with the move to include all baptized people.

Crew, an emeritus English professor at Rutgers University, will speak on "Exceedingly Glad in Times Like These."

It’s all here …

Refuge

Rwandan archbishop visits Anglican Mission church
By CAROLYN CLICK
The State
Feb. 18, 2008

The Anglican Archbishop of Rwanda, who has served as a refuge for conservative American Anglicans and Episcopalians, told a congregation Sunday that while he is tired of church politics he remains committed to a vision of the Gospel that would end what he calls “spiritual terrorism.”

“God is changing the world and he is changing the church,” said the Most Rev. Emmanuel Kolini, who delivered the sermon at Columbia’s Church of the Apostles and spoke to parishioners at a lunch afterwards. “Because the world is lost. It is godless.”

The congregation, which meets at the State Museum, is one of five Anglican Mission in America churches in South Carolina. Four of the five are Anglican mission plants, operating under Kolini’s authority as Episcopal primate of Rwanda. The fifth, All Saints Church on Pawleys Island, split off from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and is now part of the AMIA.

It’s all here …

Panel Examines Lives of Gays in Africa
By Scott Levi
Columbia Spectator
FEBRUARY 18, 2008

Emmanuel Kamau of Nairobi, Kenya began receiving death threats after his church expelled him for publicizing his homosexuality.

As part of a panel at Riverside Church on Sunday afternoon, Kamau and others offered American audience members firsthand accounts highlighting the plight of gay and lesbian Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa. While several of the issues discussed resembled those faced by homosexuals in New York, the panelists stressed the problems unique to post-colonial Africa.

“We are part and parcel of the Church,” said Davis Mac-Iyalla of Nigeria, director of Changing Attitude Nigeria. As one of the three who spoke about individual experiences as a devout Christian specifically in Kenya and Nigeria, he criticized the Anglican Church for what he saw as exploitation of the pulpit “to attack the gay community.”

It’s all here …

Rights and wrongs

Report: N.J. Civil Union Law 'Total Failure'
WNBC
February 17, 2008

TRENTON, N.J. -- Tuesday marks one year since civil unions became legal for gays and lesbians in New Jersey.

But don't celebrate the anniversary so soon. WNBC has learned that a state commission studying the matter will issue a report claiming the law has been a total failure.

The first government report since New Jersey began allowing same-sex unions said civil unions create a "second-class status" for gay couples.

The law was intended to give same-sex couples marriage equality without the title. However, the report found that many self-insured companies refuse to provide health insurance to the partners of their employees.

Same sex couples like Episcopal ministers Paul Walker and Randy Webster said they have been frustrated by government bureaucracies and medical offices that don't have a clue about their rights.

It’s all here …

Formerly gay survivors go forth -- still gay and OK
By Wendi C. Thomas
Memphis (TN) Commercial Appeal
February 17, 2008

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

After years of wrestling with whether his sexuality made him sinful, including two months in a Memphis religious treatment program designed to de-gay him, Jacob Wilson can confidently declare that that Scripture has a new meaning for him.

"The truth is I don't have to change for anyone and I'm fine the way I am. I'm fully accepted by God," said Wilson, now 22, who will join dozens of others for an ex-gay survivors' conference here next weekend.

Wilson, then 19, was a part of Love In Action's adult program, housed in a former Episcopal church in Raleigh, at the same time that a Bartlett teen was forced into since-closed LIA's youth program, Refuge.

It’s all here …

Full inclusion backed

N.C. Episcopalians back full inclusion of gays
Yonat Shimron
McClatchy Newspapers
January 22, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - Delegates to the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina adopted a resolution asking the national body to support the full inclusion of gays and lesbians and to encourage the development of liturgies to bless same-sex unions.

The resolution passed by a majority vote of the more than 700 delegates to the convention, which met in Greensboro Friday and Saturday.

The diocese, stretching across 39 Piedmont counties, has previously made known its commitment to gay and lesbian inclusion. Bishop Michael Curry voted in favor of the consecration of the denomination's first openly gay bishop in 2003. He has since allowed pastors to give pastoral care to gays and lesbians, including the blessing of their unions.

It’s all here…

Epiphanies

Removal vote nearing for Episcopal bishop
But Duncan avoids suspension in fight over church doctrine
January 17, 2008
By Ann Rodgers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Officials of the Episcopal Church have taken a first step toward removing theologically conservative Bishop Robert Duncan as head of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, but he dodged an ecclesiastical bullet when the three senior bishops of the church declined the presiding bishop's request to immediately suspend him.

Instead, all the bishops of the Episcopal Church will vote on whether to depose him, most likely at their fall meeting, for "abandoning the communion" of the Episcopal Church. "Communion" is a broad term that encompasses the beliefs, fellowship and structure of a church.

Bishop Duncan yesterday denied the charge.

"Few bishops have been more loyal to the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church," he said. "I will continue to serve and minister as the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh."

It’s all here …

Episcopal church cracks down on dissidents
By Michael Conlon
Reuters
Jan 16, 2008

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church have stepped up a crackdown on conservative dissidents, ordering one bishop to stop his religious work and threatening a second with the same thing.

Both rebuffed the moves.

The worldwide Anglican church and its U.S. branch have been fractured since 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relationship in over four centuries.

It’s all here …

Bishop Duncan Avoids a Ban -- For Now
by Cary McMullen
Lakeland (FL) Ledger
January 16, 2008

According to a story on the Web site of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has notified Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh that a review committee has formally found that Duncan has "abandoned the communion of the church" and narrowly avoided being slapped with an "inhibition," which would have forbidden him from acting in the capacity of a priest or bishop. This follows last week's similar action against Bishop John-David Schofield of San Joaquin (Calif.). Schofield was inhibited, but a panel of bishops (which included South Florida Bishop Leo Frade) refused to give Schori permission to take the same action against Duncan, for reasons that were not made public. Shortly after receiving notice from Schori, Duncan issued a statement denying the allegation: "Few bishops have been more loyal to the doctrine, discipline and worship of The Episcopal Church. I have not abandoned the Communion of this Church."

It’s all here …

Episcopal Church Acts Against Pittsburgh Bishop
WTAE (Pittsburgh)
January 16, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- An Episcopal committee says that conservative Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has "abandoned the communion of this church" -- a potential first step toward stripping him of religious authority in the denomination.

The committee blocked the national Episcopal Church from imposing the penalty of "inhibition," which would have barred him from performing religious duties. But the Episcopal House of Bishops is expected to consider imposing the punishment near the end of this year.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who notified Duncan that he had abandoned the communion on Tuesday, told Duncan that she sought permission to inhibit him.

It’s all here …

Episcopal Church acts against Pittsburgh bishop
Associated Press
January 17, 2008

An Episcopal committee says that conservative Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has "abandoned the communion of this church" _ a potential first step toward stripping away his religious authority in the denomination.

Senior bishops in the Episcopal Church blocked the national church from imposing the penalty of "inhibition," which would have barred him from performing religious duties. But the Episcopal House of Bishops is expected to consider imposing the punishment near the end of this year.

The Pittsburgh diocese wants to split from the U.S. denomination and join another province of the Anglican Communion, a loose-knit worldwide fellowship of churches that aligns itself with the Church of England. The Pittsburgh diocese also wants like-minded conservative parishes outside the 11-county western Pennsylvania jurisdiction to be able to join them.

In a statement, Duncan says he hasn't abandoned the church and will "continue to serve and minister."

It’s all here …

Religious freedom in Fresno
Andrew Fiala
San Francisco Chronicle
Open Forum
January 17, 2008

The drama regarding the Episcopalian Church in Fresno shows us the complexity of the ideal of religious liberty. Americans are right to celebrate the separation of church and state. But we must acknowledge that religious liberty means that religions are free to espouse views that many of us believe are intolerant. This works so long as church and state remain separate.

Last month, a substantial majority of Episcopalians here in Fresno voted to leave the American Episcopal Church and align with the Church of the Southern Cone. The immediate cause of this fissure was the Episcopal Church's changing view of homosexuality and marriage. According to the more conservative reading of the Bible propounded by the Fresno Episcopalians, the church should not approve homosexual relationships or ordain homosexual clergy.

The Episcopal Church responded last week by "inhibiting" John-David Schofield, the bishop of San Joaquin. This means that he is prohibited him from carrying out his ministerial duties. In reply, Schofield claims that because he is no longer a member of the Episcopal Church, the order of inhibition does not apply to him.

It’s all here …

Chicago Consultation

Anglican Leaders Meet in Evanston
Produced by Lynette Kalsnes
December 07, 2007

An international gathering of Anglican leaders in Evanston plans to push for the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church.

About 50 church leaders gathered at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary this week. They decided to push to allow the election of bishops in same-sex relationships, and the blessing of same-sex unions, in the churches that choose to do so.

It’s all here …