epiScope

We're number 3...and 7

Religion's role in U.S. presidential elections tops '07 news stories
December 15, 2007
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The 2007 Top Religion Stories as selected by Religion Newswriters are:
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3. The role of gays and lesbians in clergy continues as a deeply dividing issue. An Episcopal Church promise to exercise restraint on gay issues fails to stem the number of congregations seeking to leave the mainline denomination, while in a close vote, Canadian Anglican bishops vote nullify lay and clerical approval of same-sex blessings. Meanwhile, Conservative Jews become more open to gay leadership.
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7. Some Conservative U.S. Episcopalians realign with Anglican bishops in Africa and elsewhere in the global South, initiating legal disputes about church property ownership.

It’s all here …and wouldn't it be wonderful if the number one religion story of 2008 were:
Anglicans Resolve Conflicts, Vow to Work Together Despite Differences?...

On the beach

The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg said Mass in Asbury Park, N.J., on Saturday before a crowd that included Scott Helsel and the Rev. Gail Bennett. [Sylwia Kapuscinski for The New York Times]

Asbury Park Journal: Sea, Sand, Sky and an Invitation to Worship
By TINA KELLEY
Published: August 6, 2007
ASBURY PARK, N.J.

The altar is a tray for serving breakfast in bed. The pews are large towels or striped beach chairs. And instead of doodling on the program, distracted children can play with a bucket or bury a parent’s feet in the sand.

On Saturdays in the summer, Trinity Church, an Episcopal congregation here, celebrates a beach Mass at 6 p.m., attracting up to 75 people — some passers-by from the Boardwalk, some regular parish members, and some visitors from Asbury Towers, a retirement housing complex that casts a welcome late-afternoon shadow on the sand.

“Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas and streams,” said the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg*, reading from Canticle 12 in the Book of Common Prayer, as she stood on the beach at the north end of the Boardwalk on Saturday. “O whales and all that move in the waters, all birds of the air, glorify the Lord.”

It’s all here …

*Yes, that Mary Frances Schjonberg+, national correspondent for Episcopal Life Online, and what epiScope wants to know is: Did she have her BlackBerry with her?

Brother, you can say that again

Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest this, please. From Br. Tobias Haller's "In a Godward Direction" blog:

We have never been “ECUSA.” From 1789 on through 1964 we were “PECUSA.” In 1964-1967 two General Conventions amended and then ratified our new Constitutional Preamble introducing “The Episcopal Church” as an optional monicker. In 1976-1979 the new BCP was adopted, in which “The Episcopal Church” became the preferred form. We continue to use the full PECUSA-lingo in things like the corporate name (DFMS-PECUSA) and on the title pages of the Constitution and Canons, but since 1967 it has been perfectly correct to use TEC — and many have done so. True, some people have used “ECUSA” all along, and will very likely continue to do so. But this has never been a correct “use.”

It's all here ...

For an Anglican Province with congregations and members in 16 different independent nations besides the USA, it only makes sense.