Double it.
Gary R. Hall's Washington National Cathedral is becoming the happening place.
Is the Washington National Cathedral the spiritual center of the nation? In the mind of the liberal Episcopal cathedral's new dean, it should be.
Such an assertion would surprise many of America's churchgoers, the vast majority of whom are not even Oldline Protestants, let alone Episcopalians. But since assuming leadership of the Cathedral in October, Dean Gary R. Hall has frequently spoken of the church's role as being "at the center" of American public life. Hall wants to raise the cathedral's profile as not just a center of worship, but as an organized political advocacy center on a host of liberal issues.
Despite having freshly arrived from a failed seminary and a parish that by Evangelical or Roman Catholic standards would be viewed as somewhat small, Hall clearly has feelings of grandeur about his new office, seeing the National Cathedral as the center of American religious life.
Previous generations of liberal Episcopal clergy often spoke in layers of obfuscation; discovering the heretical teaching buried in their writing and preaching required hours of decoding. Hall represents a younger generation of liberal Episcopalians who resemble nothing so much as Unitarian Universalists decked out in stoles and surplices; they are quick to denounce those who advocate historic Christian teaching-especially moral teaching-as intolerant perpetrators of injustice who must be silenced.
In an October interview with the Detroit Free Press Hall announced that he is, "not about trying to convert someone to Christianity. I don't feel I'm supposed to convert Jews or Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists or Native Americans to Christianity so that they can be saved. That's not an issue for me."
Hall was also forthcoming about the fact that he finds common cause with those who do not profess a faith in Jesus Christ.
"I have much more in common with progressive Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists than I do with certain people in my own tradition, with fundamentalist Christians," Hall declared. "The part of Christianity I stand with is the part in which we can live with ambiguity and with pluralism."
Perhaps unsurprisingly considering his background, Hall has brought politics to the forefront at the National Cathedral, already a liberal congregation that has hosted anti-Israel film screenings and new age worship seminars. In December, the cathedral almost immediately issued a press release following the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, in which an upcoming Sunday sermon calling for firearms regulation was promoted. In his sermon that weekend, Hall dismissed calling the shooter "evil" as "reflexive" and dehumanizing. Instead, Hall touted a political rather than a spiritual solution.
"Our political leaders need to know that there is a group of people in America who will serve as a counterweight to the gun lobby, who will stand together with our leaders and support them as they act to take assault weapons off the streets," Hall sermonized. The dean advised that the best way to mourn Newtown's victims is to "mobilize the faith community for gun control."
The following month, Hall explained how a decision to conduct same-sex marriage is about more than just cathedral policy; it is also a move to influence the country. ...
I have searched for Hall's biography. So far, no mention of a wife and family. There is a whisper out there that he is homosexual. Can any Freepers out there confirm 1 way or the other?