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What do I have to do to join the American Episcopal Church? It sounds great now that it has a woman, the Bishop of Nevada, the Rt Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori, in charge and an openly gay bishop in Gene Robinson. That, for me, encapsulates all the best Christian virtues of tolerance, diversity and acceptance. A woman at the head of a Church! Who would have thought it? All we need now is a female Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Oh, and a President too, but that may not take too long either. I may cheer, yet all...

The new leader of the Episcopal Church in America, Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, says she does not believe homosexuality is a sin and that homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender. As the Episcopal leadership continues to huff and puff to catch up with the world, it would be helpful if it could tell its members what it regards as sinful behavior, or will the very concept of sin soon be up for negotiation in order to avoid giving offense to anyone? Truly what Paul, the Apostle, warned would happen in the "end times" is...

Why on Earth would there be any controversy about the election of the first woman as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church? When I heard the news of the election of the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, my heart leapt and I thanked God. I wanted to celebrate even as I was surprised by the news. For some within the worldwide family of Anglican Christians, Bishop Jefferts Schori's election is cause for concern. I believe this election is an invitation into holy conversation about discovering the face of God among us. It is a sign of hope. When the Episcopal...

Episcopal boredom http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50644 http://tinyurl.com/p3s8y Posted: June 15, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Hans Zeiger Let me see if I can capture the mood at the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. The main thing about it is the generation. It is a gathering, chiefly, of baby boomers on the older end of their cohort. If they preceded the boom, they at least participated in the '60s. I half expected the long hair and dope to flow with the crowds that came yesterday to hear the debates about homosexuality and the consequently precarious relations of the Episcopal...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Episcopal General Convention approached another defining vote Monday in the wake of electing its first female presiding bishop: whether the church should temporarily bar gays from becoming bishops to preserve Anglican fellowship. Delegates began considering a moratorium at the request of world Anglican leaders, who remain angry over the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop — V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Rev. Frank Wade opened debate by asking delegates not to view the request from Anglican leaders as an ultimatum, but as a request for peace. "No one is being asked...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first woman to lead any church in the global Anglican Communion when she was elected Sunday to be the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The choice of Jefferts Schori may worsen — and could even splinter — the already difficult relations between the American denomination and its fellow Anglicans. Episcopalians have been sparing with many in the other 37 Anglican provinces over homosexuality, but a female leader adds a new layer of complexity to the already troubled relationship. Only two other Anglican provinces — New Zealand and Canada —...

The solemnity of hymns played on an organ was replaced by thumping speakers that amplified a thick bass line. Instead of a more traditional, staid sermon, listeners heard a hip-hop homily. Mixing the motifs of hip-hop music and culture with Christian doctrine is all part of the HipHopEMass service. The Rev. Timothy Holder, an Episcopal minister from New York City, created the HipHopEMass concept. He and his posse of musicians and religious rappers brought their in-your-face ministry to Richmond last night, holding a service at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 1719 N. 22nd St.

Danforth: Ban on Gay Marriage a Silly Idea WASHINGTON — Former Sen. John Danforth says a conservative push to ban gay marriage through a constitutional amendment is silly, calling it the latest example of how the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the GOP. Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, made the comments in a speech Saturday night to the Log Cabin Republicans, which support gay rights. He said history has shown that attempts to regulate human behavior with constitutional amendments are misguided. "Once before, the Constitution was amended to try to deal with matters of human...

An Anglican clergywoman in a long-term, same-sex relationship is set to become the first lesbian bishop, causing uproar among traditionalists. The evangelical wing of the worldwide Anglican Communion has said that the election of the Rev Bonnie Perry will lead to the "unravelling" of the Church. Miss Perry, 43, is one of five shortlisted candidates standing for election for the bishopric of California on May 6. She has been the pastor at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Chicago, since 1992. Her girlfriend of 18 years, Susan Harlow, is a professor of religious education at the nearby Meadville Lombard theological school and...

RICHMOND (AP) -- Two black bears killed last month after one of them bit a child were buried this weekend at an emotional memorial service attended by 500 mourners. The bodies of the bears, euthanized to be tested for rabies after biting a 4-year-old who put his arm through the fence surrounding their 2-acre habitat, were exhumed from a landfill and cremated last week after a public outcry over their deaths intensified. "This is where they belong," said a teary Samantha Monk, 9, of Glen Allen, who joined several people in laying flowers and wreaths at the grave. "They shouldn't...

NEWS Episcopalians face up to decline Friday, December 9, 2005 By JOHN CHADWICK STAFF WRITER The Episcopal Diocese of Newark, for years the epitome of liberal Protestant Christianity in America, acknowledged Thursday in an unusually candid report that it has suffered a steep slide in membership and needs a bishop who can revitalize its struggling parishes. The diocese, which covers seven northern New Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Morris, has lost nearly 24,000 congregants, or 46 percent of its membership, since 1972. That's nearly three times the average decline in the Episcopal Church nationwide, the report said. "Many...

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Members of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut passed a resolution Saturday urging Bishop Andrew Smith to allow priests in Connecticut to preside at civil union ceremonies. The resolution passed overwhelmingly at the diocese annual meeting, church officials said. A law allowing same-sex civil unions in Connecticut took effect Oct. 1. But Smith reminded clergy in a recent memo that they are not authorized to officiate at blessings of same-sex unions. He said that won't change at least until the House of Bishops meets in 2006. The resolution, while not binding, gives the diocese, "a sense of this...

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Methodist Church chooses conservative course on homosexuality By Cara Eastwood rep4@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - The United Methodist Church is going to be fine following the two-week General Council that concluded Friday in Pittsburgh, a local church official says. The leader of Cheyenne's Grace United Methodist Church, the Rev. Jon Laughlin, said the Methodist church is "one of the most democratic structures - perhaps on Earth." It is this democratic process he and other local pastors say will save the church from the fate that befell the Episcopal Church last year when an openly-gay bishop was confirmed...

Episcopalians meet and discuss future of the church By Cara Eastwood rep4@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CASPER - A church is much, much more than just a building. Relatives are buried there, daughters are married there, and it's the place where many people have their first experience in a classroom. In church, many people feel safe, supported and at home. On Saturday, in Casper, a group of Episcopalians talked about the importance of the church buildings they've grown to love over the years and the friends and memories they contain. It's the church itself, and all its trappings, which...

<p>For the first time in 10 years, Mary Wilkinson went to church one Sunday in January. She sat in a back pew at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Stamford, Conn., flipping through a prayer book and listening intently to the priest's sermon.</p>

<p>Conservative Episcopalians have moved quickly in the month since the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as the denomination's first openly homosexual bishop to set up an alternate denomination that has legal and ecumenical clout.</p> <p>Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has been selected to lead this new group, called the Network of Confessing Dioceses and Congregations, which includes 13 active Episcopal bishops and 384,935 laity. That's the number of signatures to a statement of support on the Web site of the American Anglican Council (AAC).</p>

A lifelong Episcopalian who served 24 years in the clergy is the first in the Diocese of Ohio to quit the priesthood over the election of an openly gay bishop. William Tumbleson, 63, a retired cleric who believes Scripture forbids homosexual activity, renounced his priestly orders after he decided to join St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland. As churches opposed to the ordination of a gay bishop ponder their next steps, Tumbleson said he wanted to show that some people are already taking action. "I don't ever say I've left the Episcopal Church. I just say the Episcopal Church has...

The Anglican Church of Uganda has severed all ties with the Episcopal Church in the US over the consecration of a gay man as an American bishop. The Ugandans initially cut ties only with the New Hampshire diocese following its November 2 consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop. But 30 Uganda Anglican bishops have now decided to sever their church's ties with the entire Episcopal Church. "Any same-sex relationship is a disorder of God's creation," a spokesman said.

LONDON (AP) - Conservative Anglicans said Monday they will cut or loosen ties with the U.S. diocese that has consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop, but supporters of V. Gene Robinson said his elevation had sent a powerful message of love and tolerance. In a statement issued Monday, Nigerian archbishop Peter Akinola said Robinson's consecration in New Hampshire on Sunday demonstrates that parts of the U.S. Episcopal Church "consider that their cultural-based agenda is of far greater importance than obedience to the word of God. "The overwhelming majority of the primates (Anglican leaders) of the global south cannot and...