Free Republic

Minutes south of Interstate 10 and Sealy, the pastures along FM 1458 are their own silent world in the morning. Mists lift to reveal black cattle, brown and spotted horses, snow-white egrets underfoot in lush green grass. Then a concrete mixer comes churning down the blacktop. Just up the road is a small subdivision. More are sure to come as city dwellers, including weekenders and retirees, move out in search of a quieter, simpler life — and relief from city traffic. Although the gradual influx may bring greater changes in the long run, what disturbs residents most is the planned...

Plots by Communists to infiltrate America. The disintegration of borders and rural areas. Citizens mobilizing and rising up against government agencies and big business. It all sounds like the plot for a summer blockbuster, but it's something that could be happening in your own backyard. These were just a few of the topics addressed in the "How to fight the TTC" workshop, held Monday at the Pitser Garrison Civic Center in Lufkin. The conference served as an informational meeting aimed at informing citizens and local government officials how they can unite in trying to stop the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor project....

A Piney Woods retreat that has hosted national church conferences on controversial issues, celebrated the consecration of bishops and provided summer memories for thousands of teens now faces another kind of challenge. The nearly two square miles of forest, hills, fields, lakes and buildings that make up Camp Allen Conference & Retreat Center, 15 miles southeast of Navasota, lie in a two-mile-wide strip listed in state documents as the preferred route for the planned Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. Proposed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, the corridor plan has drawn heated opposition at town hall meetings and public hearings throughout Southeast...

Grimes County commissioners and County Judge Betty Shiflett made sure they attended a TTC/I-69 meeting at the Walker County Fairgrounds last week, as residents previously demanded they take a stronger stance against the proposed route through Grimes County. Shiflett received a roaring applause from audience members with her speech that ended with the question, “What part of “no” do you not understand?” Shiflett added that Grimes County was not given an option for having a town meeting, just the environmental meeting. “Representative Lois Kolkhorst stole the show as she announced loud and clear that she was against TTC I-69,” said...

March 22nd, 2007 posted by kendall at 4:27 pm To a certain kind of faithful Episcopalian, things may indeed look bleak. The recent House of Bishops meeting in Texas seems to put a seal of finality to the fraying hopes many of us had for the renewal of our common life. To be realistic, however, is not to lose hope; rather, it is see more clearly where our true hope must lie. As for reality: There is clearly no real place left for conservative Christians within TEC’s official structures. It is obvious to me that, not only are the vast...

The American Anglican Council (AAC) commends The Episcopal Church (TEC) House of Bishops for clearly responding to the Anglican primates’ February 2007 Communiqué at its Camp Allen, Texas, meeting this week. However, the AAC is strongly opposed to the three “Mind of the House” resolutions adopted yesterday that expressly reject the pastoral scheme outlined by the primates’ recent Dar es Salaam Communiqué – a plan laid out to protect those in the church unable to accept the direct ministry of their Episcopal bishop or the presiding bishop due to theological differences. The bishops did not address the key issues on...

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops has finally fallen on its sword. It has declared its independence from the Anglican Communion. By rejecting the Primates ultimatum set out in the communique in Tanzania that it must be in full accord with the Windsor Report, it has chosen to walk apart. Earlier in the week we were told by the national church's news service that the TEC would "talk but not act". We were clearly mislead. A news blackout was lifted yesterday when the House of Bishops issued three mind of the house resolutions affirming that The Episcopal Church desired to...

Bishops' 'Mind of the House' resolutions Tuesday, March 20, 2007 [Episcopal News Service] The following resolutions were passed by the House of Bishops March 20 during its annual Spring retreat meeting in Navasota, Texas. Mind of the House of Bishops Resolution Addressed to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church Resolved, the House of Bishops affirms its desire that The Episcopal Church remain a part of the councils of the Anglican Communion; and Resolved, the meaning of the Preamble to the Constitution of The Episcopal Church is determined solely by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church; and Resolved, the...

The primates’ Feb. 19 communiqué and its Sept. 30 deadline for a response from the House of Bishops have been topics of discussion from the outset of the House of Bishops’ March 16-21 meeting at the Camp Allen Conference Center near Houston. This is the first time the bishops have gathered since Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected during General Convention last June. The communiqué was also addressed by Bishop Jefferts Schori in plenary during a question-and-answer session on the primates’ meeting. While no response to the communiqué is planned for this meeting, sources present told The Living Church...