NO REST YET ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Don't blame me. Leonardo made me do it. The plaque is borrowed. From Eruptions at the Foot of the Volcano:

Rowan Williams has proven to be a deceitful, snide and punishing leader to heterosexual women and to our LGBTI sisters and brothers throughout the Anglican Communion. His ¨nuanced¨ (sneaky and blatant) despotic leadership continues to demean, marginalize and discriminate against other Anglicans. He often discriminates against minority ¨marginalized¨ human beings– he has a cowardly, and codependent ¨working relationship¨ with Anglicans at the Global South and panders to the Gafcon schismatics-- pandering to religiouslike bigots who harm tens of thousands of LGBTI Anglicans on the ground in Jamaica, Uganda, Nigeria, the Middle East and even in the United Kingdom (as with Jeffrey John and many others we can now openly witness ). Anglican David Kato in Uganda has been murdered along with many Anglican/other lesbian ¨rape cure¨ victims because, in part, of poor episcopal stewardship at The Anglican Communion.

Remember: I didn't say that. However, I did think Leonardo's post and plaque were worth sharing.

UPDATE: IT has a splendid post on Rowan Williams and the closeted gay bishops in the Church of England at The Friends of Jake titled "Coming Out as a Leader", which includes a wonderful snazzy cartoon.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND - NO GAY BISHOPS

From the Church Times:

In England, the equality laws make it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of their sexual orientation...

Nevertheless, exemptions written into the Act accept that the C of E “does not draw the same distinction as most secular employers between a person’s work life and his or her private life”.

The key factor is the requirement of a bishop to act as a focus of unity. The advice states: “Where someone is in a civil partnership and/or is known to have been in a same-sex relationship, even though now celibate, it is for the CNC . . . to come to a view whether the person concerned can act as a focus for unity because of these matters.”

So. The church is exempted from the practice of equality under the law because the bishop must be a focus of unity. That's absurd. No bishop can possibly be a focus of unity for every single person in the diocese. After all, several bishops left the Church of England to join the Roman Catholic ordinariates. They were hardly a focus of unity, because members of their flock stayed behind in the Church of England. The "focus of unity" reasoning appears to be trumped up for the very purpose of excluding gay persons from the episcopacy.

A CHECKLIST has been drawn up that makes it virtually impossible for an openly gay person to become a bishop in the Church of England.

“[F]actors that can properly be taken into account:

• whether the candidate had always complied with the Church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity;

• whether he was in a civil partnership;

• whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex relationship;

• whether he had expressed repent­ance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and

• whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.”

The checklist leave me speechless, because it evidences such intrusiveness and discrimination against gay persons as to be truly shocking.

Are you bored yet with posts on the Church of England? I'll give you a rest after this one, unless....

HYMN NO. 365

A minister was completing a temperance sermon. With great emphasis he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

With even greater emphasis he said, " And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he said, " And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river."

Sermon complete, he sat down.


The song leader stood very cautiously and announced With a smile, nearly laughing:

"For our closing song, Let us sing Hymn #365, 'Shall We Gather at the River.'"


Smile, life is too short not to!
Pass this on with a smile
Keep spreading the cheer.
See you at the river!

Thanks to Doug.

MORE FROM THE COLIN SLEE MEMO

There's more from the Colin Slee memo, and it's not pretty. Jim Naughton at The Lead has further commentary on the redactions in the memo. What I've read convinces me further that transparency is the way to go whenever possible, but I do understand that confidentiality is sometimes in order.

Colin Slee carried a heavy burden away from the meetings, but, he did not advocate an electoral system for choosing bishops in the Church of England. It's difficult to see how electing bishops would be worse than the process Slee describes.

UPDATE: John Chilton provides links to even less redacted versions of Colin Slee's memo at The Lead. The newly revealed material is absolutely appalling to read.

HYMN BOOKS V DATA PROJECTORS

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From The Cartoon Church.

TRY LEADING BY EXAMPLE

What do I want to say about the temper tantrums of Archbishops Rowan Williams and John Sentamu that I have not already said elsewhere? Not much.

As the Guardian reveals in a leak from the notes of the late dean of Southwark Cathedral, Colin Slee, who was present at the meeting to choose a bishop for the Diocese of Southwark:

The document reveals shouting matches and arm-twisting by the archbishops to keep out the diocese's preferred choices as bishop: Jeffrey John, the gay dean of St Albans, and Nicholas Holtam, rector of St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London, whose wife was divorced many years ago. Eventually Christopher Chessun, then an assistant bishop, was chosen.

As I've already said, I'd like to have smacked the two archbishops, but that's resorting to violence. On second thought, I'd send them to their rooms without their supper to contemplate their bad behavior.

Unfortunately, the two men are not toddlers, but rather "mature" men in positions of power and influence, and their actions have consequences, grave consequences.

Slee described Williams shouting and losing his temper in last year's Southwark meeting, which left several members of the crown nomination committee, responsible for the selection of bishops, in tears.

Slee also in effect charges the church with hypocrisy, stating that there are several gay bishops "who have been less than candid about their domestic arrangements and who, in a conspiracy of silence, have been appointed to senior positions". The memo warns: "This situation cannot endure. Exposure of the reality would be nuclear."

How the Church of England continues to function in such a vast and hypocritical conspiracy of silence, remains a mystery to me. And that the Archbishop of Canterbury has the chutzpah to lecture our bishops in TEC on how to run a church is beyond my understanding. Perhaps he should try leading by example.

MADPRIEST HAD IT FIRST

The Guardian published a blockbuster of a revelation by Colin Slee from beyond the grave. MadPriest had the link first, and I believe he'd want you to comment over at OCICBW. Of course, I could be wrong.

A WONDERFUL DAY WITH IT AND BP

Grandpère, moi, BP, and IT (Photo courtesy of IT)

On Monday, Grandpère and I headed to New Orleans to have lunch with IT and BP who were in town for a microbiology conference. Yes, IT is an award-winning microbiologist with quite an impressive curriculum vitae. If I thought about her awesomeness too much, I'd probably be intimidated from having a conversation with her, but we've had online conversations for some years now, and I think of her as my good friend and favorite atheist. When I was in Anaheim, CA, for General Convention 09 of the Episcopal Church, I had the very great pleasure of meeting IT and BP for the first time in real life, and they are both delightful women and great company. I'm pleased that IT and BP got to meet GP, as most of my blog friends don't have the pleasure, unless they visit down our way, because he is not the traveler that I am, and he minds the home front while I journey here, there, and not quite everywhere.

In the photo above, you see the four of us outside Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant, on St Charles Street, one of my favorites of my many favorite restaurants in New Orleans. I can't think of one way that the combination of the company at lunch and the food served us could be improved. What an enjoyable two hours! Good company, good food, good wine, good conversation, good laughs - as we say in Cajun land, what better way to pass a good time?


Moi, BP, IT, and the matron of honor at their wedding

Yes, the gentleman on the right, a colleague of IT, insisted that he be called the matron of honor, so I said, "Please, I must have your picture with IT and BP!" So. There he is - the lovely matron of honor.

The picture was taken at the reception in honor of IT and her award, which was for her service in promoting the status of women in the field of microbiology. Of course, there was more food and drink at the reception, but I was still full from lunch, so I ate only a few pieces of fruit. Later that evening, when we were in our room at the B&B, I regretted my decision not to have more, because, once we were showered and dressed for the night, I discovered that I was very hungry. Neither GP nor I was willing to get dressed again to go for late night take-out, so I stayed hungry.


Above is the chocolate fountain at the reception. I was told by the others that the chocolate was not hot, so I'm not sure how the fountain of chocolate was kept flowing. I have a hilarious picture of Grandpère with chocolate lips, but he will not allow me to publish the photo. He says it makes him look silly. Of course! That's the idea of posting the picture - for a laugh. But I am a submissive wife, and I never go against GP's wishes.

After we left the reception, we went for a walk along the Mississippi River (It was high.) and sat for a while to watch the tricky maneuvering by the ferry pilot as the ferry crossed from New Orleans to Algiers and back again. The strong currents in the river make guiding and docking the boat quite a challenge. Watching the river flow, along with the obvious movements of the water due to the currents, was quite restful and nearly hypnotic for me. The Mississippi is a mighty body of water, and one comes away from a close-up view with great respect for its power.

Then, BP, IT, and a new friend, also a microbiologist, walked us to catch the St Charles streetcar back to our B&B. I love riding the streetcar with the windows open, the breeze blowing in, and the rocking back and forth, as the car rides the tracks. I once rode the streetcar to school and to work every day, so there's a bit of nostalgia associated with rides.

Our rather effusive good-byes, before and after we had boarded the streetcar, our waving, blowing kisses, and taking photos, provided amusement for our fellow passengers on the streetcar. No doubt, they thought we were a little crazy, which may not be all that far from the truth.


Above is the Sully Mansion B&B in the Garden District in New Orleans where we stayed the night.

What a lovely afternoon and evening with our friends. I hope it will not be too long before we see IT and BP again.

PS: I forgot to tell the story of our invitation to the reception in honor of IT. BP sent us an invitation without IT's knowledge, and we were supposed to be surprise guests if we attended. But BP neglected to tell me the invitation was a surprise, so I responded to IT, and the surprise element was ruined. However, all worked to the good, because, had we kept the surprise, we would not have lunched and spent the afternoon together.

FIRE ALARM

You never have to change the batteries!

I'm putting one in every room!

Safety First!

You don't have to thank me for this information;

I do this as a public service..

Nevertheless, I thank Ann. Brilliant.

PLEASE PRAY...

From Kirstin at Barefoot and Laughing:

Damn.

I’m not a mutant. The doctor at UCSF called about an hour ago. Not quite sure what happens next. UCSF will take my scans to their neurologists on Thursday, and they’ll say whether or not I’m eligible for gamma-knife. If I am, we do it, and cytotoxic chemo. (I don’t expect to be eligible; I’ve been told I have too many tumors.) If I’m not, he says ipiluminab is the best bet. I can get that through Kaiser or UCSF. I'd rather have him keep treating me, so that's what I think we’ll do. (My MediCal covers it. My doctor at Kaiser looks depressed every time he sees me. This one still has enthusiasm, and knows so much more of the current research.)

Kirstin has courageously fought melanoma for three years now. Please pray for Kirstin and all those who care for her.

Please pray for those who died in the recent tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, in Minnesota, in Oklahoma, and in Arkansas. Pray for all who loved the people who died. Pray for those who lost everything.



Photo from The Huffington Post.

Counterlight posted horrifying videos, two filmed live during the tornadoes and one showing the aftermath.