Free Republic

US AMBASSADOR to Australia John Berry has married his long-term partner of 17 years in a private same-sex ceremony in Washington D.C. The 54-year-old former head of the Office of Personnel Management - which oversees the US public service - is the first openly gay US ambassador to serve in a Group of 20 nation and the highest ranking openly gay man in United States history. In a short statement, Mr Berry confirmed the nuptials, telling news.com.au, "John Berry and Curtis Yee, partners of 17 years, were formally married on Saturday August 10, at St Margaret's Episcopal Church in Washington...

The Episcopal Priest, Rev. Gary R. Hall, is the Dean of the Washington National Cathedral. I expected him to be liberal as he has been outspoken concerning his support of gay marriage and gun control. I mean, hey, he's an Episcopalian, whaddya' expect? But I was truly surprised by something in Sally Quinn's profile of Rev. Hall at On Faith. Check it out: I don’t want to be loosey-goosey about it,” he says, “but I describe myself as a non-theistic Christian.” And he goes on to expand on the concept. “Jesus doesn’t use the word God very much,” he says....

When evangelical preachers lose their way and turn their backs on biblical Christianity, why is it they end up in the Episcopal Church? As a preacher who traveled in the opposite direction and left the Episcopal Church 22 years ago—or I should say the Episcopal Church left me—I think I have a clue. On March 18, the Huffington Post reported that Rob Bell, the one-time evangelical pastor who rejected the core of Christian faith, has endorsed homosexual marriage. Where was that endorsement made? Surprise, surprise: Grace Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral of the Diocese of California. Grace Cathedral is located in...

When Father Patrick Allen lay prostrate before the bishop for his diaconate ordination on June 29, Allen’s son, Henry, ran up to join his dad. It was barely a week into Father Patrick Allen’s new ministry when, in the course of taking his two children to activities in his nonreligious clothes, at least five people asked:So, what do you do for a living?Allen smiles graciously, sometimes bringing his hand to his chest in a humble gesture, one that coincidentally shows his wedding band.“This might begin a long conversation,” the James Island father says.“I’m a Catholic priest.”When his daughter, Lucy, goes...

Episcopal Church gays and lesbians are weighing a resolution to be put forward at the next General Convention making it illegal for straight white males to be admitted to the priesthood. LA Bishop Mary Glasspool, an avowed lesbian and one of many lesbians and gays supporting the "no white males resolution", crafted her resolution after hearing a straight white male preaching a sermon condemning homosexual behavior last month. "I was shocked, stunned, blown away and mortified. I have never heard such homophobia coming from a pulpit. That was my moment to say enough is enough. "This comes down to a...

Kenyan Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenyan Episcopal Conference, joined other African leaders last week in open dismissal of President Obama’s urging to accept same-sex marriage.“Those people who have already ruined their society…let them not become our teachers to tell us where to go,” said Njue in response to Obama’s statements promoting same-sex marriage. “I think we need to act according to our own traditions and our faiths.”(snip)“This nation, the nation of Kenya [is] sovereign and God-fearing,” Ruto added.“America has made tremendous contribution to Kenya’s well-being and we are very grateful and as a government...

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), a “faith-based” group that claims that Jesus would support abortion and has manipulated many in the church to follow suit and promote abortion as a God-given right that allows women to be in control over their own lives.Recently we’ve written extensively about the connection of the United Methodist Church to this abhorrent group. My disgust at this group is less about them promoting abortion, as it is about promoting abortion as if they are doing the work of Jesus. As I have been reading some...

My dear Wormwood, The collective heads of the Hades High Council is positively spinning with all the news of these foolish earthlings in their desire to find peace, harmony, love and "why can't we all get along" interfaith notions. Their compromises over pansexual behavior have to be one of the single greatest triumphs of the 21st Century. Our Father had to be dragged away from a round of bishop bashing just to hear the good news. Now that both the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have succumbed to the notion of civil partnerships while condemning gay marriage is of course...

U.S. Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori (far left) is seen next to Episcopal Auxiliary Bishop Nerva Cot in this 2007 photo. (CNS) The Anglican Ink site reports: The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has denounced the Apostle Paul as mean-spirited and bigoted for having released a slave girl from demonic bondage as reported in Acts 16:16-34 . In her sermon delivered at All Saints Church in Curaçao in the diocese of Venezuela, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori condemned those who did not share her views as enemies of the Holy Spirit. The presiding bishop opened her remarks with an...

Retired Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay man to become a U.S. bishop in the Episcopal Church, has written an nasty piece of opinion attacking a Catholic Archbishop as well as the Catholic Church in its entirety for defending marriage. Robinson, writing for The On Faith blog at The Washington Post, attacked Abp. Allen Vigneron for having said Catholics who support gay unions or marriage should not receive communion. And not only does he say that the Church is wrong on gay marriage, he says the Church has "lost its way" and has no right to even discuss...

At my small Episcopal church yesterday, we prayed for all those "killed" in the "tragic" Boston Marathon bombing. That was bad enough--those people were murdered and it was anything but a tragedy. Then we had to pray for the dead terrorist--which I refused to do. How unbiblical can you get. The dead terrorist didn't repent before his death. His soul went straight to Hell. Praying for him is basically praying for evil if you ask me. We also prayed for the still living terrorist. I can see that--he's still alive and can repent. But we didn't pray for the Holy...

Rev. Luis Leon is no fan of what he refers to as the “Religious Right”. The controversial Easter sermon attended by President Obama and his family raised many eyebrows, to say the least. Now, the Reverend stands by his divisive words.

It was sad to read the public comments of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington denying the importance, or need for the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, going so far as to imply this teaching was “outlandish. ” More on that in a moment, but first some background.Some time ago I brought a former Episcopalian into the Catholic Church who, after the Rite of Reception gave a great sigh of relief and said, “I know the Catholic Church is not without problems, but at least I know the Bishops actually hold the Christian faith. It is such a relief...

Washington Episcopal Bishop Marianne Budde, writing in her blog on the subject of Resurrection, opined that if someone were to discover a tomb with Jesus' remains in it, the entire enterprise would not come crashing down. VOL: Actually, Bishop it would. Our faith would be in vain and we would be of all men (and women) most miserable. St. Paul writes in I Cor. 15, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day...

It’s sad when clergy egregiously politicize worship, especially on an important holy day at an historic church that used to symbolize non partisan unity. But the Episcopal clergy Luis Leon at St. John’s Episcopal Church next to the White House, known as the church of the presidents, discharged some cheap shots during Easter worship today, with the Obamas in the congregation. “It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back, back, back,” Leon sermonized. “For blacks to be back in the back of the bus, for women to be back in the kitchen,...

President Obama attended an Easter service with his family today at St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, and the Pastor delivering the sermon at the service veered into political territory when he slammed the religious right for living in the past and lionizing "the good old days." The sermon at the service, delivered by Dr. Luis Leon, an Episcopal pastor who delivered the benediction at Mr. Obama's second inauguration, took a turn for the political when the pastor decried those who wax nostalgic about the way things once were. "I hear all the time the expression 'the good...

While many Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday, Barack Obama, his family, and everyone else attending St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. received a message that included an attack on conservatives, the Weekly Standard reported. "It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back ... for blacks to be back in the back of the bus ... for women to be back in the kitchen ... for immigrants to be back on their side of the border," said Dr. Luis Leon. According to a tweet sent by Reuters'...

The pastor at the Washington, D.C. church where the Obama family celebrated Easter on Sunday said members of the religious right want blacks “in the back of the bus,” women “back in the kitchen” and immigrants “back on their side of the border.” “It drives me crazy when the captains of the religious right are always calling us back…for blacks to be back in the back of the bus…for women to be back in the kitchen…for immigrants to be back on their side of the border,” Rev. Dr. Luis Leon said in his sermon, according to the White House press...

(AP) -- The Washington National Cathedral had been ready to embrace same-sex marriage for some time, though it took a series of recent events and a new leader for the prominent, 106-year-old church to announce Wednesday that it would begin hosting such nuptials. The key development came last July when the Episcopal Church approved a ceremony for same-sex unions at its General Convention in Indianapolis, followed by the legalization of gay marriage in Maryland, which joined the District of Columbia. The national church made a special allowance for marriage ceremonies in states where gay marriage is legal.Longtime same-sex marriage advocate...

LONDON (Reuters) - The leader of the Church of England on Tuesday said a vote last month that struck down proposals to allow women to become bishops had been "deeply painful", but that Christianity was still relevant in Britain despite falling numbers of believers. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who leads the global 80-million-strong Anglican Communion, said in his Christmas day sermon that the answer to the question of whether Christianity had "had its day" was a "resounding no". The Church of England narrowly voted against allowing women bishops last month - to the dismay of Williams and Prime Minister...