Were the subject not so momentous, your presumption in addressing a man of undoubted holiness, a true Man of God who walks in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Bishop John-David Schofield, in the terms you used, would be uproariously funny. Is this 'Theatre of the Absurd'?
Read moreThe debate over Robinson was eye-opening. The more conservative congregants were so upset over the election of a gay man as bishop that they set up an e-mail forum to discuss next steps.
I joined it to understand their concerns. I learned that you can't have a disagreement with an evangelical Christian, especially on religious issues. Their interpretation of the Bible is too rigorous.
Read more"At this moment... Oceania was at war with Eurasia and in alliance with Eastasia. In no public or private utterance was it ever admitted that the three powers had at any time been grouped along different lines. Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia.
Read more1. An Evangelical Church
Read moreMoreover - although he offended Muslims by declining to describe Islam as a religion of undiluted love - he has been careful not to rant about bioethics or sex. His view is that Catholics cannot explain what they are against until they do a better job of explaining what they are for.
Read more"Arise, go to Padanaram and drop dead." (Gen. 28:2-3, slight paraphrase)
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This lady steps in it more than her predecessor, and that's saying something.
Maybe it's a hazard of being a pilot from Big Sky country. She's used to walking through the pastures with her head in the clouds.
Or maybe it's the university professor whose head is six miles under water with the squids and octopuses -- the "deep place" Frank Griswold could never find.
Read moreThe controversial new leader of the Episcopal Church in the United States provided a prime example of these alienating attitudes in a startling interview in the New York Times Magazine on November 19th with Deborah Solomon. When Solomon asked about the current numbers of Episcopalians, for instance, Bishop Jefferts Schori took it as a point of pride that her church experienced declining membership.
Q: How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?
Read moreThey met in Philadelphia to produce a "Miracle at Philadelphia". They wanted to renew God's covenant with his people, and they inserted moral values into a constitution that has lasted unto today. These men built a system of government based on the state constitutions which were based on the covenants of the Old Testament.
Read moreAnd it has long been recognised that what the Rule proposes for the common life of monks and nuns is a structure that can be adapted to the needs of Christian community more widely - as is shown in the extraordinary number of people who still seek to live as oblates or who regularly refresh their vision by sharing the life of Benedictine houses.
Read moreOr, going further afield, do we go to Rome? (This is in fact a live option for many people, and especially given the current Pope and his predecessor.) I was listening to Olivia Newton-John's version of "Ave Maria" the other night - I really was - and felt that sort of tug which many Anglican people feel, although they tend not to talk about it until... Afterward (Edith Wharton - Dean's Contest).
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