Friday, July 6, 2018
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald The search for promising keys to Episcopal Church growth has led two General Convention committees back to the land. They are exploring how the church might launch and nurture congregations centered on sustainable farming and other types of...
Friday, July 6, 2018
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald As the Episcopal Church looks to invigorate a new generation, hopes are rising for the prospect of staging a first-time regional event in Panama for Spanish-speaking youth. But funding could be an obstacle. General Convention’s Christian...
Thursday, July 5, 2018
By Matthew Townsend For the past year, the Episcopal Church of Cuba has seemed on the verge of full reintegration with the larger Episcopal Church — but a proposal from the House of Deputies could delay a more complete reunion. Resolution D060, discussed July 5 by...
Thursday, July 5, 2018
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald The Episcopal Church needs to update its means of holding offenders accountable for sexual misconduct, including situations involving parishioners. That theme emerged July 5 during a hearing convened by General Convention’s Joint Committee on...
Thursday, July 5, 2018
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Graphic accounts of sexual harassment in the Episcopal Church were center stage on the eve of General Convention July 4 as bishops presided at a liturgy focused on lamentation, confession, and healing. Raw material came from 42 letters received...
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
TLC’s Kirk Petersen reflects on how quickly — and early — General Convention can start. By Kirk Petersen The 79th General Convention hasn’t officially started, but it already feels like I’ve missed a lot. Thegeneralconvention.orgwebsite lists the convention as meeting...
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Phyllis Tickle: A Life By Jon M. Sweeney Church Publishing. Pp. 274. $26.95 By Phoebe Pettingell I first encountered Phyllis Tickle (1934-2015) in the 1990s through her religion column in Publishers Weekly. Books about religion had hitherto been a niche market, hard...
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
By Steven R. Ford “Radical hospitality” has become an almost mandatory buzz phrase in American liberal Christian denominational statements of identity and purpose. It has rapidly spread to the judicatory and congregational level. One looks almost in vain for any...
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
A report to be published this month claims the Church of England “botched” its investigations into alleged cases of abuse. Sir Roger Singleton, chairman of the Independent Safeguarding Authority, said the church’s 2010 investigations “failed to give a complete...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
By Kirk Petersen A proposed compromise on same-sex marriage has met a skeptical reception from some of the proponents of Resolution A085, which seeks to force bishops throughout the church to permit same-sex marriages in their dioceses. The resolution also calls for...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
By Kirk Petersen General Convention is a big deal. How big, you ask? It’s the primary governing body of the Episcopal Church, and it only meets every three years. So there’s a lot of work to get done in nine days. The convention officially runs July 5-13, but...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The third Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission released its latest agreed statement on July 2. Philippa Hitchen of Vatican Radio reported in May 2017 that the document was being prepared. Walking Together on the Way: Learning to Be the Church—Local,...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
A former Cabinet minister who spent 211 days in prison for perjury was ordained a deacon June 30 and intends to work in prison ministry. Jonathan Aitken was jailed in 1999 for lying under oath in a libel case against The Guardian. He sued the newspaper when it said he...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald Campus ministry in one of the fastest-growing regions of the country does not look the same as it does in many other places. Along the 80-mile stretch from Austin’s southern suburbs to San Antonio, one finds no long-established Canterbury...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The Church of England’s House of Bishops has released a paper on church planting and mission, presenting it as one way for the church to extend its apostolic mission. The paper offers 10 principles, practical advice, and theological grounding for church planting. The...
