Congratulations To Del And Phyllis!

From the New York Times:

In San Francisco, Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 84, longtime gay rights activists, were the first and only couple to be wed here, saying their vows in the office of Mayor Gavin Newsom, before emerging to a throng of reporters and screaming well-wishers.

Ms. Martin and Ms. Lyon, who have been together for more than 50 years, seemed touched, if a little amazed by all the attention.

“When we first got together we weren’t thinking about getting married,” Ms. Lyon said before cutting a wedding cake. “I think it’s a wonderful day.”

Oh, my! Isn't this lovely? It is a wonderful day.

Picture from the San Francisco Chronicle.

UPDATE: Elizabeth Kaeton at Telling Secrets has a wonderful post on Del and Phyllis.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Citizen?

Do you have what it takes to become a citizen?

When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services (INS) officer. The questions are usually selected from a list of 100 sample questions that prospective citizens can look at ahead of the interview (though the examiner is not limited to those questions). Some are easy, some are not. We have picked some of the more difficult ones

NOTES: The INS plans to revise its list of questions in 2008 (a pilot program is using these new questions at selected INS sites). Also, the questions in the test below are as asked on the official United States Immigration and Naturalization Services Web site. Candidates are not given multiple choices in the naturalization interview, which is conducted orally.

Take the test.

I'm not an immigrant, but I took the test anyway. My score - 90%.

85-100%: Welcome to the United States! (And, truth be told, you know more about this great land than most Americans.)

I'm already here, but thanks for the welcome.

Blame or thank Doug.

May I Have A Blessing, Please?

From the Guardian:

A gay priest who angered conservative Christians by exchanging rings and vows with his partner in a church ceremony for his civil partnership in London last month has resigned, it emerged last night.

The Rev Dr David Lord, a New Zealander who tied the knot with English clergyman Peter Cowell on May 31, "felt it appropriate to lay down his clergy license", according to a statement released through the Anglican church in New Zealand.

How sad. All the uproar because two men love one another, and made a commitment to each other, and wanted God's blessing on their union.

Much of the anger toward the couple came after details of the service were revealed. Traditionalists were angry that the men were able to enjoy a ceremony almost identical to a traditional church wedding, with readings, hymns, a Eucharist and a version of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer's Solemnization of Marriage.

It's mine, mine, mine! You can't have it!

But the Rev Martin Dudley, who led the service, downplayed the event's political significance.

"I am surprised and disappointed by the fuss. It was a joyful, godly occasion. Why turn it into a controversy? It was not a rally or a demonstration," he said.

Exactly. I gather the ceremony took place last month. Why the fuss now? Did the word just get out? This is not the first ceremony of the sort to take place in England. Surely the Archbishop of Canterbury knew that, but now we all know that he faces similar situations in his own country to those in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. Next time he feels called to chastise the North American churches, perhaps he will think twice and decide against it. Once again, hypocrisy is brought into the light.

Liberals reacted with disappointment to the news of Lord's resignation. The Rev Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of Putney and president of Inclusive Church, a campaign group working for equal rights for gay Christians, said: "This is disgraceful. It's amazing this church cannot celebrate what little love there is in this world. It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives and they have been turned into outcasts."

Amazing, indeed! The outcome of this battle for the right to celebrate a loving commitment between two people, no matter their sexual orientation, is already known. It remains to be played out, and unfortunately others will be hurt along the way, but there's no turning back.

Thanks to Ann at Of Course I could Be On Vacation for the link to the Guardian story.

UPDATE: From the Dominion Post via Press.Co. NZ News

A Hamilton priest whose gay wedding ceremony has sparked a row between liberal and conservative wings of the Anglican Church has returned to New Zealand without his partner.

But the couple look set to enjoy a proper honeymoon soon amid speculation that they will be reunited in New Zealand within weeks.

The Rev David Lord was yesterday tending patients at Waikato Hospital, where he works as a doctor.

I hope that they were not driven out of England.

Read the rest. Thanks to Mike in Texas for the tip.

A Fast For Equality

As you may know, the California Supreme Court declared that the state ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, thereby giving all couples in the state the right to be married. In response, Bishop Marc Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California suggested pastoral guidelines for the clergy and laity of the diocese regarding weddings. Directive No. 1 states:

I urge you to encourage all couples, regardless of orientation, to follow the pattern of first being married in a secular service and then being blessed in The Episcopal Church. I will publicly urge all couples to follow this pattern.

In this manner, all couples, whether male/female, female/female, or male/male will be afforded the same treatment by the church. Only blessings will be performed by the church after the couples have been married in a civil ceremony, until such time as the canons of the Episcopal Church change so that all may have equal access to church weddings. Read the rest of the letter, including the other guidelines.

Richard Helmer, rector of The Church of Our Savior, in Mill Valley, California, has chosen to follow Bishop Andrus' directives. His eloquent and inspiring statement of his reasons for so doing is at his blog, Caught By The Light. Richard says:

Bishop Marc, it seems to me, has chosen along with his Diocese a very careful, tenuous path of grace in a conflicted Church. Following his recommendation, I informed my vestry yesterday evening that I would no longer preside over a marriage of any kind until The Episcopal Church has settled on a way forward that honors the covenants of all couples with equality. Rather, I will treat all couples who approach me for marriage equally by offering counseling and blessing, and referring them to the civil authorities to publicly declare their vows as legally binding. By equality, I don't mean political equality (although that naturally follows), but equality in terms of the recognition of God's grace.

A parishioner asked me yesterday if I was therefore withholding the sacrament of marriage. After reflection, I decided I wasn't because I can't. It is the couple who engage in the sacrament of marriage. At best, as a priest, I can only name it and declare it publicly. The sacrament of marriage between couples of all sorts will continue with or without my help in that particular way. In a curious sense, that's liberating Good News, as I fast from this part of ordained priesthood.

Indeed, in my many years of Roman Catholic schooling, I was always taught that the minister of the sacrament of marriage is not the priest, but the couple themselves. The priest pronounces that the commitment has been made and blesses the couple and the covenant they have agreed to with one another.

Richard names refraining from officiating at weddings as a fast until all couples in his parish may receive equal treatment with respect to church weddings. To me that's close to an ideal description of the practice. I've said before that I'd like to see the church out of the marriage business altogether, with the couple receiving the church's blessing after a period of discernment by their church community.

Richard allows that the practice of blessing all couples is at the edge of the boundaries of what the canons of the Episcopal Church permit:

While our violation of canons by what we are doing in this case is quite arguable (I believe we have pushed their limits, but not transgressed them), amid the half-veiled or fully naked calls that we are anarchists and rejecters of the rule of law, I am reminded of the legacy of civil disobedience. Is there such a thing in an ecclesiastical setting? It was St. Augustine who argued that an unjust law is no law at all. Perhaps we are starting to point towards this ancient truth in our actions at this time.

I left the following comment at Richard's blog:

Richard, an eloquent and inspiring post. Thank you for taking the time to share your words. Just last night, durng my walk, I thought of the civil rights struggles here in the US. I thought of civil disobedience and wondered what the term would be for such actions within the church. Ecclesial disobedience? Ecclesiastical disobedience? I don't know, but you make the important point that if one engages in such actions, one must be willing to face the consequences of those actions, as those in the civil rights movement had to, with the consequence that some died as a result of their part of the struggle for equality. Others went to jail. They were willing to pay the price.

FWIW, I believe that Bishop Andrus has made the proper decision and that yours to follow his recommendations is proper and right.

Please read Richard's well-reasoned and eloquently written post in its entirety.

Gay Marriage? "No" Says The Rev. Dudley

The Rev. Martin Dudley, who performed the ceremony at St. Bartholmew the Great in London for the Reverends Cowell and Lord, says "no" in this interview on BBC4.

Thanks to Doorman-Priest for the link.

Louisiana Legislators Double Their Pay

From the Advocate:

Reacting to public outcry and threats of recall, members of the House approved a legislative pay raise plan Friday that more than doubles — instead of triples — their base salary.

The amended plan, passed on a close vote, proposes a $20,700 increase in lawmakers’ base pay — putting it at $37,500 effective July 1. Lawmakers’ total compensation package would hit nearly $60,000.

Legislators would still be guaranteed annual increases in their base pay — without future votes. Future raises would be tied to changes in the Consumer Price Index.

While the citizens of Louisiana are hurting because of high fuel and food prices, the legislators more than doubled their pay, and they won't have to vote again on new raises, because the raises will be automatic. I note that theirs is a part-time job. (Thank God, or they would have more time to make mischief.)

My fellow Louisiana blogger, Jim, at JindalWatch, has excellent commentary on the on the whole sorry exercise.

Our whiz-kid governor strongly disapproves of the raise, but he will not exercise his veto power. He knows who's boss. As I said at Jim's place, "How can he possibly appear weaker? He's hunkered down, enclosed by his circle of protectors, operating in secrecy. He caves in when the legislature says, 'Boo!'"

Same Sex Wedding In The Church Of England

Our friend, Ann, posted at the Episcopal Café, the story of the wedding of two Church of England priests, both men, with the liturgy for the ceremony taken from the Book of Common Prayer, with only slight adaptations. Ann links to the actual bulletin of the litrurgy itself. A nice precedent out of the CofE. I wonder what will come of this.

The ceremony for The Rev. Peter Cowell, Priest Vicar at Westminster Abbey, and the Rev. Dr. David Lord was held at The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great in London..

Check it out.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the article in the Telegraph on the ceremony from Thinking Anglicans.

Archbishop Orombi of Uganda calls it "blasphemous" and demands that the Archbishop of Canterbury act quickly to prevent the "disintegration" of the "Anglican Church". To which Anglican Church does Abp. Orombi refer? Surely not the Anglican Communion, because the Anglican Communion is most definitely not a church, although some have taken to calling it that.

Thanks to Susan S. in the comments for the tip.

UPDATE 2: More from the Daily Mail.

Methuselah Resurrected

From the AP via USA Today:

WASHINGTON — Just over three years old and about four-feet tall, Methuselah is growing well. "It's lovely," Dr. Sarah Sallon said of the date palm, whose parents may have provided food for the besieged Jews at Masada some 2,000 years ago.

The little tree was sprouted in 2005 from a seed recovered from Masada, where rebelling Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to Roman attackers.

With Dr. Sarah, I think it's lovely, too, that a seed from the time when Jesus walked the earth sprouted with new life. What a wonderful symbol of the Resurrection.

The picture shows the plant at the age of 24 months. It's three years old now and bigger and taller than in the photo.

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat (or a date palm seed) falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:24

Photo from MSNBC News by Guy Eisner / Courtesy of Science Magazine

"A Victory For The Rule Of Law"

From the Center For Constitutional Rights:

Today is a historic victory for the rule of law. We won! For the third time, the Supreme Court has upheld the fundamental rights of Guantanamo detainees. In its historic decision in CCR's case, Boumediene v. Bush, the Court affirmed detainees' right to habeas corpus. One of the oldest and most basic legal protections, habeas corpus affords the incarcerated the right to challenge the legality of their detention before a judge and keeps the king and president from arbitrarily locking people up and throwing away the key.

We're asking you to take action in two important ways: please make a contribution to CCR today so we can continue this important work, and please write to the presidential candidates to demand that they uphold the Supreme Court's decision.

The Administration has delayed, ignored and sought to evade two prior Supreme Court decisions, Rasul v. Bush in 2004 and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in 2006, both of which upheld the rights of Guantanamo detainees.

This decision was, in many ways, made possible by the support of so many - the over 500 volunteer habeas counsel who have committed themselves to defending the rights of Guantanamo's detainees, the thousands upon thousands who have acted to demand that the Constitution be upheld, and all of our supporters, who have made this work possible. Today, your support is urgently needed, now more than ever, to ensure that the Supreme Court's decision is implemented and the Constitution restored.

CCR was the first organization to step forward to defend the detainees, long before anyone else would take the risk. Please click here to donate to support CCR's work today so that we can continue to take on the risky cases!

Join CCR today to write to the candidates for President of the United States, Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R), and demand that they affirm their commitment to not only implement the Supreme Court's decision, but also to close Guantanamo and undo all of the policies of the Bush administration that have trampled upon our Constitution.

Click here to write to the candidates!

This six-year-long nightmare is a lesson in how fragile our constitutional protections truly are in the hands of an overzealous executive. Let us celebrate, but let us remain vigilant.

Sincerely,
Vincent Warren
Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

UPDATE: Tell me why Nancy Pelosi says impeachment is off the table.

Feast Day Of Enmegahbowh

PRIEST AND MISSIONARY


Icon of St. Enmegahbowh by the Rev. Johnson Loud.

Enmegahbowh, who was also called John Johnson, belonged to the Ojibwa Indian tribe in Minnesota.

He must have been born to some position in his tribe, as he had been set apart for a "Medicine Man" in youth, and his Indian name, Enmegahbowh, meant "The man who stands by his people," a significant name, which in time proved to be a true one.

He was sent as a missionary to Crow Wing, after two ministers before him had been unsuccessful in establishing a mission.

For a few years the mission work seemed at a stand still. From Canada Enmegahbowh received earnest invitations to go where comfort and hopeful work awaited him, but Bishop Whipple encouraged him, s[t]anding in the forefront for an unpopular cause and a hated people, and Enmegahbowh would prove the fitness of his name -- he would not desert his people.

The Ojibwa were moved by the US government to the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, where:

Enmegahbowh labored earnestly, the government now aiding in the work by encouraging the Indians in civilized ways. A steam sawmill was built at White Earth Lake, where Indians were taught to run the machinery, and from which lumber was furnished for building purposes. Eastern churchmen assisted the mission, and a church and parsonage were built.

At the time of the consecration of the church in August, 1872, quite a party of the clergy and laity, through the kindness of Bishop Whipple, were enabled to visit White Earth.

The consecration was on Thursday. Friday morning, the chiefs signified to the bishop their wish to meet with him in a council, which was therefore held, that afternoon, on the hillside in front of the church. It was a picturesque scene -- the lovely landscape, the sunlight glancing through the tall oak trees on the bishop and Enmegahbowh, who sat in the centre, the chiefs and five or six clergymen grouped around. Behind the bishop three chairs were placed for the ladies of the party -- the first time, I think, that ladies were ever admitted to an Indian council.

Enmegahbowh died at White Earth at the age of 95.

The above quotes and information were taken from A Pioneer History of Becker County Minnesota by Alvin H. Wilcox (1907), via St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Enterprise, Oregon.

Prayer:

Almighty God, you led your pilgrim people of old with fire and cloud; grant that the ministers of your church, following the example of blessed Enmegahbowh, may stand before your holy people, leading them with fiery zeal and gentle humility. This we ask through Jesus, the Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

READINGS

Psalm 29
Isaiah 52:7-10 or1 Peter 5:1-4
Luke 6:17-23

Disclosure: For the most part, this post is recycled from the feast day last year.