Some Anglican priests say they would rather be sued than allow people who have undergone sex-change procedures to marry in their churches. The Gender Recognition Bill, soon to become law, will require marriage registrars to grant equal rights to transsexual people. A conscience clause allows clergy to refuse to carry out such weddings. Members of the Anglican group Reform oppose such ceremonies in church buildings altogether, fearing it may set a precedent for same-sex blessi

A Hard Look at the Numbers By The Rev. Kevin Martin In the current Episcopal Church crisis, a number of claims are being made about the health and vitality of our denomination. Most of these are based on political spin, not on any hard data. I would like to try to move beyond this spin and take a look at our present organizational situation. Let’s start with the most extreme statements I am hearing on the liberal and conservative sides of the church. The Dean of EDS tells us

Submitted by David W. Virtue Atlanta Bishop J. Neil Alexander voted last fall in favor of Bishop V. Gene Robinson’s ordination, consistent with the wishes of his inner-city constituency, but alienating the much larger population of the diocese living in the suburbs and throughout north Georgia. Here is his statement. A Statement from Bishop Alexander on Those Leaving the Episcopal Church In recent weeks, some of our sisters and brothers, mostly from St. Alban’s Church in Monr

By Terry Mattingly It’s hard to watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ without concluding that the suicidal Judas Iscariot was chased by demons into the pit of hell. On the other hand, it’s hard to watch the ABC television movie Judas without concluding that somehow, before he hung himself, his sense of remorse put him back on the road to redemption. These movies offer radically different takes on the Passion and events that led to it. While Gibson has been attacked for

By Michael J. McManus Two new studies commissioned by America’s Catholic Bishops document the scale of the sexual abuse of minors by priests that has been front-page news for two years — and its causes and proposed remedies. From 1950–2002, some 4,392 priests — 4 percent of those who served in those years — sexually abused 10,667 children whose average age was only 12. More than 80 percent of that abuse was of a homosexual nature. Those numbers are undoubtedly low. Half of th

Episcopal diocese votes to join ranks of protest network Delegates want panel to explore ways to reconcile By Dave Munday of The Post and Courier Staff CHARLESTON, SC — The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina at its annual convention Friday joined a controversial network formed to protest the election of an openly gay bishop. Delegates also voted that the diocese should form a commission to try to keep the church from splitting over the issue. The vote to join the Network of

I have just finished reading David Virtue’s interview with Dr. Ephraim Radner, and that in the context of some studies of how the Church Universal has dealt with the matter of false teaching and rank immorality. I do not believe Radner’s responses to these matters lead us in the right direction. As a result, I am forced to take pen in hand, or rather, fingers to keyboard, to address this vital issue. The place to begin is Jesus Christ. According to Radner Jesus was a “stayer”

“Quod ubique, quod semper, quod omnibus creditum est”—What is believed always, everywhere, and by all. “Non illegitimus carborundum”—Don’t let the bastards grind you down. Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Anglican Communion inched closer towards schism this week when the Primate of the Communion’s largest and most powerful province openly condemned the Anglican Communion Office run by Canon John Peterson, for holding a conference that included Frank Griswold, a bishop who stand

COMMENTARY By David W. Virtue ECUSA’s Presiding Bishop, Frank T. Griswold has weighed in on the national same-sex marriage debate, condemning President George W. Bush’s endorsement of a proposed Federal Marriage Amendment banning same-sex marriage. Griswold says he is concerned about the advisability of a constitutional amendment being put forth for discussion at this time. “Questions of sexuality are far from settled, and a constitutional amendment which was perceived as se

By ANNE SAUNDERS ASSOCIATED PRESS CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Days before he is to take over as the Episcopal church’s leader in New Hampshire, Bishop V. Gene Robinson said he’d marry his same-sex partner “in a minute” if he had the chance. Robinson, whose election as the church’s first openly gay bishop last year had divided Episcopalians, said Friday that the gay marriage issue is one of civil rights. “It is very irritating to me that Britney Spears, when she traipsed off to be ma

I. Unity and Schism At the center of much that is being said and written today in ECUSA is the issue (for some, the supreme virtue) of “unity” and its perceived opposite, the charge of “division” or “schism”. We all agree that it would be better if we could rightly understand, agree, and embody what God would have us rightly understand, believe, and do; but the fact is, we don’t! Why not? That is the heart of the problem. I will concede that most of the dis

News Analysis By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) — A considerable increase of religious activity over the last 10 years may indicate a start of a spiritual revival in the United States, according to pollster George Barna. He termed it significant “that we are witnessing a slow but steady development of more traditional religious behavior in the Western states.” Trends, “usually start in the West, take hold in the Northeast, then infiltr

By Mary Maraghy Clay County Line staff writer Two Episcopalian churches in Clay County, opposed to the national church’s vote to ordain a gay bishop and allow gay marriages, are withholding funds from the national church in revolt. “We’re not going to pay anymore for a crooked card game,” said the Rev. Sam Pascoe. The parish fulfilled its obligation for 2003, Pascoe said. But in 2004, it will redirect that money—about $75,000—to other missions. At the recent Florida conventi

by David E. Sumner, Ph.D. How ironic that the ecumenical officer of the Episcopal Church wrote a column condoning an action that has done more to damage the ecumenical relations of the Episcopal Church than any other in its history. The suspension of cooperation with the Episcopal Church by the Russian Orthodox Church, the postponement of dialogue by other Orthodox bodies, and the replacement of the presiding bishop on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission all

By Frank Stirk Canadianchristianity.com & BC Christian News 2/4/2004 Four Anglican primates in Africa and one in Asia have offered “alternative episcopal oversight” to Canadian Anglicans disillusioned over the way their bishops have addressed the longstanding controversy over same-sex blessings. So far, four parishes and eight priests in the diocese of New Westminster, as well as one priest in Calgary, have accepted the offer. Recently, Archbishop David Crawley, the Anglican

Solange De Santis, Staff Writer Anglican Journal BURLINGTON, ONT—(3/3/2004)—Conservative Canadian Anglicans opposed to liberal views on homosexuality attracted a nationwide audience on Saturday, Feb. 28 for a four-hour video conference entitled For Such A Time as This. Hosted by Bishop Tony Burton of the diocese of Saskatchewan and television personality Lorna Dueck, the conference was broadcast from the studios of a religious cable channel in Burlington, Ont., about 50 km we

The Church of Ireland could see the introduction of same-sex blessings within two years, an international Anglican leader from Vancouver, Canada has warned. The Rev. Dr David Short, whose parish St. John’s Shaughnessy, along with ten others in the Canadian diocese of New Westminster, broke fellowship with their bishop Michael Ingham after same-sex rites were introduced there. Addressing Church of Ireland clergy and lay leaders on Wednesday at a lunchtime meeting in St Mark’s

Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes Structure and Strategy The Steering Committee of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (commonly referred to as the “Anglican Communion Network”) met March 2–4, 2004 in Pittsburgh, PA for strategic planning. The committee is comprised of one representative from each of the 12 original dioceses who signed the Anglican Communion Network’s structural Charter, as well as Moderator, the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan

Bishop Terence Kelshaw’s message to the Diocese of the Rio Grande From the Diocesan newsletter “Together,” February 2004 Plano is passed! The gathering of a group of over 150 clergy and lay people of the Episcopal Church met in Plano, Texas, in January 2004 to formulate details of a Network of individuals, parishes, and dioceses in response to an idea from the Archbishop of Canterbury that such a network be established as a way of expressing a way forward for those who share

Lagos, 2 March 2004 The head of the world’s largest Anglican Communion, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, has turned down an invitation to a meeting of church leaders in protest at the presence of US clerics who supported the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop, his office said yesterday. As primate of Nigeria’s 17 million Anglicans, Akinola led opposition from the churches — especially those in the developing world — which condemned last year’s decision by the US Ep