Two Dioceses Announce Candidates For Bishop

The Episcopal Dioceses of Minnesota and Los Angeles announced their slate of candidates for bishop.

From the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota:

On Saturday, August 1, the Search Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota announced the names of three candidates for IX Bishop of Minnesota:

The Rev. Mariann Budde, Rector, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, MN

The Rev. Bonnie Perry, Rector, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago, IL

The Rev. Brian Prior, Rector, Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Spokane, WA

A full bio and resume for each candidate is available on the IX Bishop Search website. A pdf of a bulletin insert is available for download. A doc file is also available.

According to her bio, The Rev. Bonnie Perry is a partnered lesbian. All three candidates appear well-qualified for the post of bishop.

From the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles:

Six priests -- three from the Diocese of Los Angeles and one each from San Francisco; San Jose, California; and Baltimore, Maryland -- have been nominated for December's election of two bishops suffragan in the six-county Diocese of Los Angeles. The slate was announced August 2 by the Rev. Julian Bull, chair of the Search and Nominating Committee.

Within the Episcopal Church, bishops suffragan are elected to assist the bishop of a diocese. The nominees, listed here with links to ministry and biographical information, are:

The Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, rector, St. Clement's by-the-Sea Church in San Clemente, California;

The Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool, canon to the bishops in the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland;

The Rev. Zelda M. Kennedy, senior associate for pastoral care and spiritual growth, All Saints Church in Pasadena, California;

The Rev. John L. Kirkley, rector, St. John the Evangelist Church in San Francisco (Diocese of California);

The Rev. Silvestre E. Romero, rector, St Philip's Church in San Jose, California (Diocese of El Camino Real); and

The Rev. Irineo Martir Vasquez, vicar, St. George's Church in Hawthorne, California.
....

"I affirm each and every one of these candidates, and I am pleased with the wide diversity they offer this Diocese," Bishop Bruno said in a statement (full text follows).

The Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool is a partnered lesbian, and The Rev. John L. Kirkley is a married gay man with one adopted son.

Again, the bios of the candidates are all quite impressive.

The LA Times says:

The nominations of the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool of a Baltimore-based diocese are likely to further inflame theological conservatives in the U.S. church and their global partners in the Anglican Communion, who have repeatedly warned about the repercussions of such action.

The Times is correct. The lists from the two dioceses will, no doubt, "further inflame theological conservatives". My prayer is that the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit will inflame the minds and hearts of those who will choose the bishops for the dioceses and lead them to the candidates best suited for the positions.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose bishops for the Diocese of Minnesota and the Diocese of Los Angeles that they may receive faithful pastors, who will care for your people and equip them for their ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p. 818)

GC09 Reaches Far Beyond....

From the LA Times:

With a little more than 2 million members, the Episcopal Church of the United States is far from being the country's largest Christian denomination. But its recent pronouncements indicating support for openly gay bishops and church blessings for same-sex couples will have reverberations beyond that church, beyond Christianity and even beyond religion. For all the theological issues it raises, acceptance of gays and lesbians at the altar reflects -- and affects -- the campaign for equality in the larger society.

Well, we know that we're not the biggest, but we can hope that the actions taken in Anaheim have a positive effect on justice and equality for gays and lesbians in this country and around the world.

In a society that has accepted women as judges, chief executive officers and university presidents, the absence of women at the altar will strike the man -- and woman -- in the pew as increasingly incongruous. The influence works both ways: A young girl who sees a woman presiding over the most sacred rituals of her faith will wonder why there is still resistance to full participation by her gender in earthly activities. A devout gay teenager who is confirmed by a homosexual bishop will be less likely to doubt his worth when confronted with bigotry and bullying at school.

Yes. Exactly. The young lesbian girl might say to herself, "Why would anyone say that I can't do that?" The devout gay teenager would be confirmed and affirmed as a gay young man, beloved of God.

Why does anyone other than members of the Episcopal Church and, perhaps, members of other religious bodies pay attention to the activities of a small denomination?

Still, it's not surprising that the controversy in the Anglican Communion has riveted observers who never have darkened the door of a church. It isn't just that the dispute about homosexuality influences and informs similar debates in developed countries, including Britain and the United States. There is also a global dimension to the controversy.

And the coup de grâce.

The strides made by the Episcopal Church thus are especially significant, and especially commendable, because they occur against a backdrop of both cultural and religious resistance. Supporters of Proposition 8 weren't the only ones to cloak prejudice with piety.

The editorial is well-done. Whoever wrote it understands what happened in Anaheim.

H/T to JB Chilton at The Lead

Helpful Old Guy

I was in Lowe's the other day pushing my cart around when I collided with a young guy pushing his cart.

I said to the young guy, "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

The young guy says, "That's OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate.

I said, "Well, maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?"

The young guy says, "Well, she is 24 years old, tall, with blond hair, big blue eyes, long legs, big boobs breasts, and she's wearing tight white shorts, a halter top and no bra. What does your wife look like?"

I said, "Doesn't matter --- let's look for yours."

Most old guys are helpful like that.

I've been much too serious of late. I needed a break, and here comes Doug to the rescue.

"The Pastoral Letter" - Bishop Bruce MacPherson

Mark Harris at Preludium posted "The Pastoral Letter" of Bishop Bruce MacPherson, bishop of the Diocese of Western Louisiana, in response to General Convention 2009 in Anaheim. Mark says:

Bishop MacPherson is an honorable man and he is telling it as he knows how. His letter is one filled with concern, but also with hope. As one of the spokespersons for the Communion Partners, I believe he is speaking with clarity. That I do not agree with him is not of much interest. That he is an articulate voice for the "minority" is of interest.

Mark posted the text of the entire letter, which I will not excerpt here. Bishop MacPherson directed that his letter be read at all services this weekend.

The Diocese of Western Louisiana is not my diocese. We belong to the Diocese of Louisiana, with Bishop Charles Jenkins as our bishop. So far as I know, Bishop Jenkins has not issued a pastoral letter. All I can find about convention on the diocesan website is this incomplete account of the first days of GC09.

"No Anglican Covenant!"

Doug, at Counterlight's Peculiers, has a terrific post on - well - he covers a lot of ground that would be difficult to describe in a few words. The basis for the background information is to clarify why Doug thinks a covenant in the Anglican Communion would not be a good thing. I agree with his conclusion, as you should know if you've read my blog for any length of time.

As is often the case, Doug intersperses his words with works of art illustrative of the points he makes in his writing. I recommend his post highly. It's well-reasoned, well-written, and clear.

Thought For The Day - Richard Rohr

Grace, that experience of unconditional acceptance and unearned love, breaks through our entire system of defenses and denials and can change anything at any age. Really!


Adapted from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 388, day 403
(Source: The Spiritual Family and the Natural Family)

For Our English Friends

This post is for our English friends who believe their friends in the Episcopal Church in the US have let them down with respect to supporting the progressives in the Church of England. Here's a list of my posts referencing the covenant. You can check out each post, or you can simply believe me that I have spoken out against the covenant frequently. Note that the posts go back two years, and not one of them has a positive word for the covenant.

The list does not include the posts that I've done warning the English that the same up-to-no-good schismatic chickens making mischief in TEC, aided and abetted by certain English flying bishops, would soon take up their roosts in England to make mischief.

It's a boring post, I know, but I want to show that I've done my small part in Anglican Blogland as best I can. I've never said that we should abandon our progressive brothers and sisters in England, but I have said that it might be a good thing to stop paying attention to the ruminations of such wrong-headed luminaries as the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Tom Wright.


http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2009/05/abc-sums-up-acc-meeting.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2009/05/pluralist-speaks-at-episcopal-cafe.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2009/05/to-acc-please-vote-no-to-rcdc.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2009/04/covenant-is-to-be-used-as-litmus-test.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2009/03/who-amongst-us-is-without-sin.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/11/which-is-it.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/11/cant-sign-covenant.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/archbishop.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-therapy-session.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/08/thought-for-day-non-serious-i-think.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2008/05/brasilian-bishops-letter.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2007/09/padre-xico-speaks.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2007/07/seclusion-at-odd-time.html

http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2007/05/archbishop-njongonkulu-ndunganes-speech.html

Charlotte - Too Good To Be Buried In The Comments

From the post titled "Politeness and the Death of the Church of England" at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong in which MadPriest says:

The Grand Tufti's response to the votes taken at TEC's general convention understandably resulted in many of my American friends saying "Well, stuff them all. We'll go it alone." As my main fear in this ongoing battle is that the US church will adopt an isolationist policy and leave the rest of the world's progressives high and dry, I called them to task on this.

Charlotte has left a new comment on the post "politeness and the death of the church of england":

Indeed we in the Episcopal Church are running out of patience with the ABC and the C of E. But that's not all. Now that the C of E is beginning to suffer the depradations of FoCA-UK, its members are beginning to see what we've had to live through. They could have avoided this by helping to defend us earlier, but they didn't. (MP, you and a few others excepted.) They loved all those lurid tabloid stories about Those Awful Americans too much. Or something.

Well, minds are changing. So any in the C of E who wish to do so are welcome to make as many polite and ineffective gestures of sympathy for TEC as they feel they have time for in their busy schedules. But perhaps we should refer these English offers of help to Dr. Johnson's reply to Lord Chesterfield:

"Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it: till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron, which providence has enabled me to do for myself."

Indeed, to his credit, MadPriest been at the forefront to stand with the Episcopal Church in the US against the depredations of our many adversaries. Pluralist, and others whom I don't mention, have stood with us. I'm grateful, and I thank them. They foresaw that what was happening in the US was a vision of the future in which the Church of England would face the same adversaries, with only the names being different.

However, the Archbishop of Canterbury and his sidekick, Bishop Tom Wright, have exacerbated the troubles in TEC by their confusing, intemperate rhetoric, thereby encouraging the breakaways and wanna-be breakaways to believe that they will soon be part of the World Wide Anglican Church Communion without the onerous burden of having to be part of TEC. Others in England, even those in high places whom we might have expected to share our concerns, have remained silent or were just not paying attention. Where were you when we needed you?

That's not to say that those of us in the US should return like for like and turn away from our brothers and sisters in the Church of England. I go on record to say that we must take note and do what we can to help them in their present hour of need.

Why I Love Jonathan Alter

From Jonathan Alter's column titled "What's Not To Like?" in Newsweek:

Go ahead, shoot me. I like the status quo on health care in the United States. I've got health insurance and I don't give a damn about the 47 million suckers who don't. Obama and Congress must be stopped. No bill! I'm better off the way things are.

I'm with that woman who wrote the president complaining about "socialized medicine" and added: "Now keep your hands off my Medicare." That's the spirit!

Why should I be entitled to the same insurance that members of Congress get? Blue Dogs need a lot of medical attention to treat their blueness. I'm just a regular guy and definitely deserve less.

I had cancer a few years ago. I like the fact that if I lose my job, I won't be able to get any insurance because of my illness. It reminds me of my homeowners' insurance, which gets canceled after a break-in. I like the choice I'd face if, God forbid, the cancer recurs—sell my house to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment, or die. That's what you call a "post-existing condition."

Please, please read it all. Read how little of the money that the health insurance companies take in is devoted to actual medical care and how much is devoted to "loading fees". How about the lady on Medicare who complained about "socialized medicare"? Ya gotta love her.

I Heard The Owl Call...

...not my name.

When I walk after dark, I sometimes see a barred owl in flight. The bird is usually invisible once it gets in the tree branches. However, last night I saw where one of the owls landed, and when I got closer, there it was perched on top of a high light post staring down at me, following my progression with owl eyes. Seeing the large bird follow me with its eyes was a little unsettling.

As I returned home, I wondered whether the bird would still be on the light pole, watching as I passed. Before I reached the pole, the owl, or another owl, called out with its loud owl sound - twice! - on the other side of the street. A spooky night sound, surely. To tell the truth, I was relieved to see that the owl had left its perch on the pole, and I did not have to watch it follow me with its large owl eyes once again.

Thus endeth my nightime adventure in my neighborhood.

Image from Wiki. I'm grateful for the pictures at Wiki, because they are not protected by copyright, so I like to give them credit.