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GetReligion notes that The New York Times (peace be upon it) has, remarkably, described the Episcopal conflict in language that is much closer to the truth than the "all about homosexuality" shorthand it and so many other news outlets have resorted to over the past several years: For a long time now, many reporters have based their stories on the assumption that all of this fighting began with the ordination of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the openly noncelibate gay bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Things were rolling along toward tolerant modernity and then the church...

Leaders of the Episcopal Church of America will take a vote this week on whether to remove Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan from ministry. Duncan notified the Pittsburgh diocese Saturday of the vote, which be taken Thursday during a meeting of the Episcopal House of Bishops in Salt Lake City. Duncan is charged with abandonment of the Communion of the Church, a charge initiated by five priests and 16 lay people from the Pittsburgh diocese, Duncan said in a letter. The Pittsburgh diocese is scheduled to vote Oct. 4 on whether to secede from the U.S. branch of the Episcopal Church...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- The Episcopal bishops of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area are opposing a November ballot initiative to overturn the California Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

Statement on Proposition Eight by the Episcopal Diocesan Bishops of California As Episcopal Bishops of California, we are moved to urge voters to vote "No" on Proposition Eight. Jesus calls us to love rather than hate, to give rather than to receive, to live into hope rather than fear. On Tuesday, November 8th, voters in California will be given the opportunity to vote for or against Proposition Eight, which would amend the state's constitution to reserve marriage as only between a man and a woman. Since the California Supreme Court's ruling in May that civil marriage should be provided to...

The Episcopal Church in California is taking up arms against Proposition 8, an amendment that would change the California constitution to preserve the integrity of marriage as being between one man and one woman. In the process the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion is clashing with a huge interfaith coalition, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Mormons, Hindus and Sikhs, which is simultaneously launching a campaign to promote the proposition. Voters will have an opportunity on the 2008 California General Election ballot in November to support Proposition 8, which will reinforce the wishes of 61% of California voters who supported true...

CANTERBURY, UK, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Gene Robinson has castigated a fellow Anglican bishop for publicly disapproving of his crusade to inculcate "gay" values into the Anglican Communion. In an interview with SXNews, an Australian homosexual news website festooned with explicit sexual advertising, Robinson complained that the Sydney archdiocese is "bigoted" because its archbishop, Dr. Peter Jensen, boycotted the Lambeth conference, held this month in Canterbury, England. Gene Robinson is the active homosexual whose consecration as Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire caused a crisis in the global Anglican Communion. He called the Sydney archbishop's defence of Christianity "ironic" given...

Eye of the storm Wednesday, 13 August 2008 By his very existence, the Reverend Gene Robinson – the openly gay Anglican bishop of New Hampshire – is an agent for change in his church, and society at large. He spoke with Peter Hackney. He is friendly, mild-mannered and avuncular. He doesn’t seem like someone who’d tear an entire church apart. Yet Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the history of the Anglican Church, has been accused of doing just that. So controversial is he that at the recent Lambeth Conference, the decennial conference of Anglican bishops from across...

Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God� in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between men and women, and the key issue for Christians is that they are faithful and lifelong, he believes. Dr Williams is known to be personally liberal on the issue but the strength of his views, revealed in private correspondence shown to The Times, will astonish his critics. The news threatens to reopenbitter divisions over ordaining gay priests, which pushed the Anglican Communion towards a split....

An explosive article appeared Wednesday in the London Times entitled “Rowan Williams: Gay relationships 'comparable to marriage'”. Ruth Gledhill, the Religion Correspondent of the Times may have blown the lid off of the perceived pause in the internal battles threatening the the Church of England after the Lambeth Conference. Ms. Gledhill wrote: “Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. Gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as those between a man and woman and the key issue for Christians is that they...

It's not about gays. Episcopalians keep insisting it's not. But, as American Episcopal bishops return home from an international religious conference this week, it's clear that the "gay issue" is one that continues to split the Episcopal church. Since the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, Anglicans have been divided over their approach to gay priests, gay marriage and who holds ultimate authority in the communion of 77 million followers around the world. The once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, which ends today, showed no ability to suture those wounds. Although the conference was not...

<p>New York (AP) -- The spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans is urging an extended ban on consecrating another gay bishop until their troubled fellowship can be healed.</p> <p>Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made the plea Sunday, the final day of the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade Anglican meeting in Canterbury, England.</p>

Cardinal Kasper’s address to the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops was straight and to the point. LONDON (London Times) - The Roman Catholic Church has finally ended all hope that Anglican priestly orders will ever be recognized as valid. In an address to the Lambeth Conference of 670 Anglican bishops from around the world, the cardinal who heads the Council for Christian Unity said the dialogue between Anglicans and Catholics would be irrevocably "changed" as a result of the ordination of women and the recent vote to go ahead with consecrating women bishops. Cardinal Walter Kasper also reiterated the Vatican's...

When people begin studying the history of the church, the result frequently is disillusionment. It is quite a messy business. Even the great councils that devised the foundational doctrines of Christianity resembled political conventions more than a solemn assembly of priests speaking in hushed tones. People who only months before were being fed to lions by the Romans debated points of theology with similar ferocity, and in some cases the meetings devolved into brawls. Closely held beliefs, when they clash with others, held just as passionately, will produce sparks. It's all too easy to pronounce the other side heretical, and...

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has challenged an American woman bishop to produce evidence to back up her claim that bishops beat their wives. Other bishops also criticised the US Episcopal Church's Bishop Catherine Roskam after she said at the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury that men beat women "because they can". She said: "We have 700 men here. Do you think any of them beat their wives? Chances are they do. The most devout Christians beat their wives... many of our bishops come from places where it is culturally accepted to beat your wife." About 670 bishops, nearly...

CANTERBURY, England -- Gene Robinson's bodyguard didn't have to worry this time. The 40-year-old man who rushed over to Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Anglican church, just wanted to shake his hand. "Thank you for bringing the church into the 21st century, for moving things forward," said Martin MacCiarrain, a government employee. The bodyguard, a retired policeman who trails the American bishop because of death threats, eased back. On Sunday during a sermon Robinson delivered in London, a long-haired man had suddenly leapt up screaming at the American bishop: "Repent! Repent!" Since Robinson, 61, was consecrated...

History's humongous wheel turns and turns and turns again. Over time, mud and sludge accumulate on even the sprucest institutions. Take the 500-year-old Anglican family of churches, Christianity's third-largest, after Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. With Anglicanism's biggest family event under way - the every-10-years gathering of bishops and archbishops in England - what the world sees, accurately or not, is a family in moral and spiritual disarray. --snip--For all that, Anglicanism's public troubles proceed from the takeover of Western Anglicanism by theological activists whose purpose is the remolding of Christianity into something less like the old-time religion than like the...

The Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, one of just two bishops in the Church of England to boycott the Lambeth Conference entirely, insisted today that he is being true to biblical authority. Explaining a decision that he admits has been painful for a man who sought refuge in Britain from persecution, and who has been at the heart of the two previous convocations at Canterbury – first as Coordinator in 1988 and then as a Member of the Steering Committee in 1998 - he said it was a matter of ‘conscience and logic’. He said that ‘persistent false teaching’...

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan today declared that Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire, "should resign for the sake of the church." In a press conference at the decennial Lambeth Conference, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul said that homosexual ordination "is not what is found in the Bible" and that it is "not the norm of the Anglican world."

A leading Anglican bishop has condemned conservatives as "demonic" for using his church as a punch bag. The Bishop of Washington, the Right Rev John Chane, a leading liberal in the Episcopal Church in the United States, accused conservatives of leading the church in a "dangerous" direction. *** "I think it's really very, very dangerous and I think it's demonic ... the Episcopal Church has been demonised. It has been a punching bag and I'm sick of being a punching bag as a Bishop and I'm sick of my church, my province being a punching bag.

James Tramel went from convicted murderer to priest while in prison, a transformation that the Episcopal Church used to successfully lobby for his parole and celebrate him before politicians and the press. But the church is now grappling with the sexual abuse of a parishioner under his care. Tramel has been suspended for sexual misconduct, temporarily stripped of his priestly authority and left searching for a new job. The San Francisco-based Episcopal Diocese of California now faces questions of whether, in its haste to proclaim Tramel's story, it redeemed and promoted him too quickly. Convicted of second-degree murder in a...

CANTERBURY, ENGLAND — A quarter of the world's Anglican bishops boycotted a once-in-a-decade gathering of church leaders yesterday in a row over gay clergy. Church officials said that 230 of the 880 bishops in the Anglican worldwide communion were staying away from the Lambeth conference, being staged in the English cathedral city of Canterbury, spiritual home of the deeply divided church. Bishops from Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, who boast some of the fastest-expanding congregations in the Anglican Church, were among those who pledged to snub the conference. Liberal and conservative clergy have been brought to the brink of schism over...

Tonight the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre featured the UK premier of For The Bible Tells Me So, “a provocative documentary about the chasm that separates gay life and Christianity today,” produced by Dan Karslake. It was followed by a conversation and Q&A with the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson and Sir Ian McKellen, Shakespearean actor and star of The Lord of the Rings. The evening started with a beautiful bass voice giving the standard instructions for everyone to turn off their cell phones and pagers. Turns out it was Sir Ian, who arrived on stage a few minutes...

Andrew Carey Walking on Broken Glass Tuesday, July 8, 2008 • 1:46 pm Let's make no mistake about it, Monday's night Synod opens up the possibility of a very serious exodus from the Church of England. The loss of large numbers of Catholics will not leave us with a 'Reformed' church, a mouthwatering prospect for earlier generations of evangelicals, but will leave us with yet another liberal protestant denomination. A new beginning? What should have been a joyous new beginning for women's ministry at General Synod on Monday, has been spoiled. Most women I know will not welcome the fact...

Thanks to a reader for the tip. As you may recall, some months ago in Minneapolis, St. Paul Archdiocese, A Faithful Rebel exposed the proposed lecture of Carol Curoe, an active lesbian who was scheduled to speak at a Catholic parish in Minneapolis. Now, as if the radicals hadn't learned the lesson then, when the Archdiocese had to very wisely intervene and suggest that the venue be moved, now they are aiming at stirring up a little more scandal. They have invited a female Anglican "priestess" and supporter of homosexual unions to lead Catholics in "Centering prayer and inner awakening",...

Protest disrupts bishop's sermon The man standing up and heckling the bishop Openly gay US bishop Gene Robinson was forced to halt a sermon at a west London church after being heckled. As Bishop Robinson began his sermon a member of the congregation repeatedly called him a "heretic" and said "repent, repent, repent". He began his sermon by saying how sad it was that the Anglican Communion was tearing itself apart. But he was stopped when the man in the congregation shouted that the schism was the bishop's fault.

San Jose, CA., Jul 8, 2008 / 11:57 pm (CNA).- Reaction continues to the decisions of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), which took place between June 21 and June 28. The assembly nullified proscriptions against sexual behavior outside of marriage and called for a vote to delete the church’s constitutional standard requiring fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness. It also initiated a process that could remove mention of the Bible’s prohibition against homosexuality form the Heidelberg Catechism. The moves are seen by some as an attempt to clear a path for the eventual ordination...

The Church of England's ruling body has voted to go ahead with the ordination of women bishops. But the Church was facing a damaging split after members of its General Synod threw out compromise proposals on females in senior ranks. All safeguards demanded by traditionalists were rejected. Sky News correspondent Mike McCarthy said: "It's a historic and very significant moment for the Church of England. "The real test now is how many people will leave (the Church). There are certainly going to be many wrestling with their consciences." The Synod members voted to approve work on a national statutory code...

It has become a cliché to say that the Church of England is in a mess. But a new chapter of messiness began just recently with the “marriage� of two Anglican clergymen in a festive ceremony in St Bartholomew’s church in London. One of the men is a doctor at the nearby famous St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The wedding – in grand style, with music and flowers and “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…� and vows and bouquets – received widespread publicity.  At no time among any Christians at any stage since Christ himself walked this earth – or...

Senior Church of England bishops have held secret talks with Vatican officials to discuss the crisis in the Anglican communion over gays and women bishops. They met senior advisers of the Pope in an attempt to build closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church, The Telegraph learnt. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was not told of the talks and the disclosure will be a fresh blow to his efforts to prevent a major split in the Church of England. In highly confidential discussions, a group of conservative bishops expressed their dismay at the liberal direction of the Church...

An Episcopal Church court has found a Pennsylvania bishop guilty of concealing his brother's sexual abuse of a minor during the 1970s. Bishop Charles Bennison Jr. could be suspended or removed permanently from ministry, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday. Bennison's lawyers said they planned to appeal the decision. A sentence is not likely to be handed down before late August, the newspaper said. Bennison, 64, became head of the five-county, 55,000-member Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1998. He was suspended in October after a special review committee of the Episcopal Church USA charged him with two counts of "conduct unbecoming a...

The crisis in the Church of England over homosexuality is a personal one for the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. Whether you are a supporter or not, a Christian or a non-believer, it is increasingly clear - as the threat of schism over homosexuality and women priests intensifies - that the leader of the Established Church is in a false position. Dr Rowan Williams portrays himself as radically inclined, yet on homosexuality he has aligned himself with a conservative cause. --- This false position arises because there is every reason to believe that he is going against his conscience, and that,...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has rounded on rebel Anglicans seeking to bypass his authority over issues such as homosexuality and women priests. Dr Rowan Williams adopted unusually forthright language to accuse the hardline traditionalists of lacking legitimacy One of his staff even suggested the rebels were becoming a "Protestant sect". The Archbishop's comments follow the creation at the weekend of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), a global network for millions of Anglicans unhappy at the ordination of the openly homosexual Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson. Dr Williams called for patience from those who want to create an...

Marriage laws, lack of church commitment from newlyweds make faith leaders think twice. Some clergy think churches should divorce themselves from the wedding business.The controversy over same-sex marriage – along with a growing sense that many couples who marry in churches never return – has prompted faith leaders to say it's time to reconsider how California couples tie the knot.After the California Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California began encouraging all couples to marry outside the church. "I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of...

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s highest governing body voted Friday in favor of a proposal that would allow for the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians. The 218th General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., this week, voted 380-325 to send the overture – that would delete the requirement that clergy live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" – to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval. Adding to the blow to conservatives, the Assembly also adopted a supplementary authoritative interpretation of the PC(USA) constitution that would allow gay and...

A month before the Lambeth Conference, the leaders of the "conservative", or traditionally Christian wing of the Anglican Church have declared that the Worldwide Anglican Communion no longer exists. The declaration comes in a 94-page book, titled "The Way, the Truth and the Life," from the church leaders meeting at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jordan. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that in the book, Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Primate of Nigeria, states, "There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion". The book was prepared by GAFCON Theological Resource Team and provides the theological and...

18th June 2008 The Reverend Dr Martin Dudley, St Bartholomew the Great Parish Office, 6 Kinghorn Street, London, EC1A 7HW. Dear Martin, You have sought to justify your actions to the BBC and in various newspapers but have failed more than two weeks after the service to communicate with me. I read in the press that you had been planning this event since November. I find it astonishing that you did not take the opportunity to consult your Bishop. You describe the result as “familiar words reordered and reconfigured carrying new meanings.” I note that the order of service, which...

The rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, in the eye of storm over gay 'marriage', explains why he decided he must bless a gay relationship Robustly heterosexual since early adolescence, unable to see that any love surpasses the love of women, and once branded by the odious Daily Mail as 'Dud the Stud', I may seem miscast in the role into which I have now been thrust, that of the turbulent rebellious priest who defies bishop and archbishop to bless two gay men, also priests, in their civil partnership. Yet there is a sense in...

A vicar accused of conducting a gay 'wedding' at his historic church is a controversial figure who has previously married his former mistress to another man, it has emerged. Dr Martin Dudley performed a ceremony for two homosexual priests at the church where he is the rector, St Bartholomew the Great in the heart of the City of London. Dr Martin Dudley The 12th century church, which once featured in the romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, was the setting for a traditional liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, with confetti and exchange of rings. But it is...

An Anglican church has held a homosexual "wedding" for the first time in a move that will deepen the rift between liberals and traditionalists, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Two male priests exchanged vows and rings in a ceremony that was conducted using one of the church's most traditional wedding rites – a decision seen as blasphemous by conservatives. Rev Peter Cowell and Rev Dr David Lord The ceremony broke Church of England guidelines and was carried out last month in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. News of the "wedding" emerged days before...

LONDON — A "wedding"-like ceremony between two male priests broke the Church of England's rules, a spokesman for the Anglican body said Saturday. The two clergymen exchanged rings and vows last month at a ceremony in St. Bartholomew the Great in London, according to The Sunday Telegraph, a preview of which was made available Saturday. The paper said the ceremony included traditional marriage liturgy, hymns and a Eucharist. The ceremony took place in defiance of the Bishop of London, in whose diocese it took place. It is likely to embolden liberal clergy who have been reluctant to offer a full...

Church trial begins for Episcopal bishop By JOANN LOVIGLIO – 3 days ago PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An Episcopal bishop accused of concealing his brother's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl decades ago twice walked in during the abuse and never did anything to stop it, the now-adult victim testified Monday at a church trial. The testimony came as the trial opened for Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. His brother became a priest after the abuse is alleged to have begun. A panel of bishops, priests and church members will decide whether Bennison, the leader...

He maintains he is following the Holy Spirit in calling for this radical revision of Christian orthodoxy. Yet, he argues against the clear teaching of the Scriptures and unbroken teaching of the Christian tradition that reserve sexual activity to the loving, lifelong marriage bond between a married man and woman. Clearly, Bishop Gene Robinson views himself as a liberator, and he is doing more to foster the splintering of the Anglican Communion worldwide singlehandedly than anyone else. He seems to take delight in both his celebrity and his self appointed task. Now, the controversialist crusader for homosexual equivalency with marriage...

California's Episcopal bishop has praised the state Supreme Court ruling that gives same-sex couples the right to marry and is calling on the faithful to defeat a November ballot measure that would restrict marriage to unions of one man and one woman. "For far too long the onus has fallen on marginalized people to bear the burden of inequalities that exist within the Church, and the decision by our state's Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to level the playing field," Right Rev. Mark Andrus wrote in a pastoral letter dated June 9. The letter appeared on the Diocese...

On Monday, Episcopal Bishop Marc Handley Andrus, of the Diocese of California (the San Francisco area) issued a pastoral guideline calling for all couples, regardless of sexual orientation, to follow the same pattern for marriage, seeking a civil ceremony first followed by a church blessing. This will allow, the bishop said, for all couples to enter marriage on the same footing. He is even going to personally volunteer to perform the ceremonies as a Deputy Marriage Commissioner. In other words, he wants those whose marriages the church can sanction to seek a civil ceremony instead, followed by a church blessing......

The Bishop of Albany, the Rt. Rev. William Love, told more than 900 delegates to the 140th Annual Diocesan Convention in Speculator, NY, last night that the appropriateness or inappropriateness of homosexual relations is really a symptom of a far greater issue centered on one's understanding of Holy Scripture and its authority in our life. "Is the Bible really the Word of God, or is it simply a creation of man? Does it apply to us today, or was it simply for the people at the time in which it was first spoken or written? Does it have authority over...

Police -- Stonington Pastor Provided Alcohol For Minors http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=bd09de68-90d0-408b-aa22-6d3f42ec354e http://tinyurl.com/6jdj56 Priest arrested during party after 2 girls hospitalized for intoxication Published on 6/3/2008 By Joe Wojtas Stonington - Police arrested the Rev. Mark Robinson of Calvary Episcopal Church Monday and charged him with hosting a graduation party at his Barnes Road home Sunday night that resulted in two 17-year-old girls being taken by ambulance to The Westerly Hospital for treatment for intoxication. The 50-year-old Robinson, who has led the borough church since 1993, was charged with delivery of alcohol to minors, second-degree reckless endangerment and permitting minors to possess alcohol....

A Church of England bishop has been criticised after he compared climate change sceptics to the Austrian child abuser Josef Fritzl. The Bishop of Stafford, the Right Reverend Gordon Mursell, said it was hard to imagine a more disgusting crime than Fritzl's, who sealed his daughter in a cellar for 24 years. But Dr Mursell added: 'You could argue that, by our refusal to face the truth about climate change, we are as guilty as he is. We are in effect locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key.' His comments, which...

A B.C. Supreme Court judge, Madam Justice Allan, has ordered the congregation of St. Mary of the Incarnation in Metchosin (St. Mary's), to hand over their church building to the diocese of B.C. in the Anglican Church of Canada, pending the resolution of a trial over who is entitled to ownership of the building. Like the two judges in the previous Niagara diocese's hearings, Mdm Justice Allan found that “the beneficial ownership of Church property is indeed an issue for future determination”, and she was only deciding the issue of who should have interim use of the property while that...

Marriage for All at All Saints Church Press Release sent from All Saints Church, Pasadena this afternoon: All Saints Church, Pasadena rector, J. Edwin Bacon, Jr., announced today that the church will treat equally all couples presenting themselves for the rite of marriage. The announcement followed a special meeting of the All Saints Church Vestry, which unanimously adopted a “Resolution on Marriage Equality” [below] in response to the May 15, 2008 ruling of the California Supreme Court. “Today’s decision is consistent with All Saints Church, Pasadena’s identity as a peace and justice church,” said Bacon, following the historic vote. “It...

The Anglican Church is the perfect vehicle for creating a new “gay” Christianity by virtue of the fact that it is the only church that accepts the logical contradiction of asserting both the sanctity of human life and the existence of a right to abortion. Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, whose ordination to the episcopate has precipitated the ongoing schism between traditionally Christian Anglicans and its ultra-liberal, secularized branches, is in London to talk about his vision for the homosexual future of the Anglican Church. He was visiting and promoting his cause in preparation for the upcoming Lambeth Conference in July.