Six years after raising the issue only to drop it like a hot potato, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) brought it up again during a Budget Committee hearing called to extend until 2015 a construction set-aside ordinance for minorities and women.

See Debate over gay business contracts resurfaces at City Hall Chicago Sun-Times
* Tags = gay religion gay Christian gay jew gay mengay men

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams forecast a "two-track" model that could leave the U.S. branch of the Communion, the Episcopal Church, out of decisive roles and without standing as a representative voice in the 77-million-member global Anglican church.

His statement comes two weeks after clergy and lay leaders at the Episcopal governing meeting voted by 2-1 margins to welcome the election of gay and lesbian bishops and to give "generous discretion" to blessing same-sex weddings.

Leaders of the USA's Anglican traditionalists and Episcopal gay activists had similar reactions to Williams' statement.

Both Archbishop Robert Duncan, of the new Anglican Church in North America, and the Rev. Susan Russell, head of the gay Episcopal group Integrity, say they will keep "being church" (working on evangelism, service and missions) exactly as before, and see when the institution catches up to reality.

See

Restructuring, not schism, ahead for Anglicans

USA Today

“What is causing the erosion of Christianity in North America? Most North Americans look at Christianity–especially as embodied in religious institutions–and find it wanting. I suspect that Christianity is in decline because it appears both hypocritical and boring. Although young North Americans express deep longings for a loving, just, and peaceful world, they don’t find an equal passion for transforming society in meaningful ways in most congregations. And, sadly, many churches simply lack the imagination and passion that many spiritual people are searching for. Folks aren’t looking for answers nearly as much as they are trying to clarify their questions and are hungry for accepting communities in which to ask them.”

She also notes:

The Southern Baptist Convention–the largest and most conservative Protestant denomination in the USA–records a continued decline in baptisms and an increasingly aging membership. The oft-reported number of 18 million members has declined in the last decade to just over 16 million. And, according to journalist Christine Wicker (see her book, The Fall of Evangelical Nation), the internal number of active members may well be around 5 million people.

2. The Anglican Church of North America, the umbrella group for conservative Episcopalians who have left their denomination over women’s ordination and full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons, has long claimed over 100,000 members. Recently, they admitted that only 69,000 persons in 650 churches in the USA and Canada have joined their association. There are 2.2 million Episcopalians in the United States and approximately 1 million in Canada. Thus, the conservative group–the one that has garnered so much media attention in recent years is a very small percentage of the entire North American Anglican membership–some 2% of the total. And with their rigid opposition to women’s ordination, it is hard to imagine that this group will find much appeal with young North Americans.

3. President Jimmy Carter last week publicly explained why he renounced his life-long affiliation with the Southern Baptists in an opinion piece appearing in The Age. He denounced the Convention’s leaders statement that women are inferior to men (created “second”) and responsible for original sin as inherently discriminatory and that Southern Baptist views on gender were contrary to both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the teachings of Jesus.

* Tags = gay religion gay Christian gay jew gay mengay men

She moved to the Church of the Nativity in Crafton, but she still supports Atonement’s rummage sales and collects the baby items that it gives to her favorite charity.

“I have friends there, but I feel a release not being there any more. My heart is in the parish where I belong now,” she said.

Such words come from both sides after the Oct. 4 vote by the Diocese of Pittsburgh to secede from the 2.1 million-member Episcopal Church, one of 38 provinces in the 80 million-member Anglican Communion, a global body of churches that grew out of the Church of England. The vote hinged on whether the denomination had abandoned biblical faith in matters ranging from salvation to sexuality.

There is sadness over broken relationships and anger over property litigation. But relations are more amicable than in most other fractured dioceses.

See Churches attempt to heal after split Pittsburgh Post Gazette
* Tags = gay religion gay Christian gay jew gay mengay men

A minister has resigned in protest over the appointment of the Church of Scotland’s first openly gay minister, BBC Scotland understands.

The Reverend Thomas Mackinnon has told his Kilmuir and Logie Easter congregation, near Invergordon, of his decision to demit, or resign his post.

The Reverend Scott Rennie, who is in a same sex relationship, is minister of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen.

He was inducted to the post at the beginning of the month.

The Church of Scotland said: “Ministers demit their charges for a variety of reasons, for example, to serve as an army chaplain or to work in the church’s central offices.

“This would always require the permission of Presbytery.”

Online petition

Hundreds of ministers and thousands of Church of Scotland members signed an online petition opposing the move.

Mr Rennie, 37, a divorced father-of-one, was minister at Brechin Cathedral but was appointed to Queen’s Cross earlier this year.

ee Reverend quits over gay minister BBC News -
* Tags = gay religion gay Christian gay jew gay mengay men

Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has issued letters to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and to the Church in the USA clarifying the controversial gay-friendly moves made by the 11-day long governing convention that wrapped up last week.

Schori says they’ve been mis-interpreted in the media. Let’s clarify here — and I’m paraphrasing her:

First, they have not repudiated their ties with traditionalists in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Indeed, the resolution which opens the door to approving more gay bishops is entirely packaged with reiterations of the Episcopal Church’s desires to keep listening to others and pursuing mission together.

However, the Episcopal Church, contrary to traditionalists, recognizes that homosexuals can also respond to God’s call to ministry, a call that is always a mystery. The resolution, she writes:

…acknowledges that the members of The Episcopal Church, and of the Anglican Communion, are not of one mind, and that faithful Christians disagree about some of these matters.

Secondly, despite some reports, no prayer books have been changed to add blessings for same-sex couples. What hundreds of deputies and bishops overwhelmingly approved was a resolution that they’ll look into writing those liturgies and presenting drafts three years from now at the next governing meetings.

Meanwhile, bishops have “generous discretion” to bless gay couples as they please — or don’t please — “to honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality,” she writes.

Get the difference between the actual resolutions and public perception? Read both resolutions here and decide for yourself.

See Wrestling bishops: Rival Churches both claim high ground USA Today
* Tags = gay religion gay Christian gay jew gay mengay men

"While the resolution honors the diversity of theological perspectives within the Episcopal Church, it does not authorize public liturgical rites for the blessing of same-gender unions," wrote Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson in their July 17 letter to Williams. "The Book of Common Prayer remains unchanged, the marriage rites are unaltered and the Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer define marriage as a 'solemn and public covenant between a man and a woman in the presence of God.'"

Resolution C056 was passed on July 17 by the 76th General Convention meeting in Anaheim, California. It acknowledges "changing circumstances" that call for a renewed pastoral response from the church for considering same-gender blessings, including state laws on same-gender marriage, civil-unions and domestic partnerships. The resolution also authorizes the House of Bishops, in conjunction with the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, to devise an open process that will invite churchwide participation in collecting and developing theological resources and liturgies. The commission is to report its efforts to the next General Convention in 2012.

"This resolution is seen as a continuation of the pastoral response and listening process asked for and encouraged by successive General Conventions and Lambeth Conferences," the presiding officers wrote.

"It is now left to each bishop to determine what such a generous pastoral response might mean in her or his diocesan context. This resolution neither forces nor demands any bishop, diocesan convention, congregation or clergy to take any action it considers contrary to its will. The resolution honors and acknowledges this church's continuing commitment to and honoring of theological diversity and the inclusion of a variety of points of view on matters of human sexuality."

Jefferts Schori and Anderson had previously written to Williams on July 16 providing an explanation and clarification of Resolution D025. In addition to underscoring the Episcopal Church's support of and participation in the Anglican Communion, that resolution affirms "that God has called and may call" gay and lesbian people "to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church."

In both letters, the presiding officers said, "It is not our desire to give offense. We remain keenly aware of the concerns and sensibilities of our brothers and sisters in other churches across the communion."

Jefferts Schori sent the communion's 38 primates a copy of the letter to Williams about Resolution C056. In her cover letter she offered a clarification about what the resolution "does, and does not, mean."

She highlighted the second page of the letter to Williams "that describes the careful process that resulted in the amendment of this resolution, a process influenced greatly by the Indaba process learned at the 2008 Lambeth Conference."

The final version of the resolution was adopted by the House of Deputies after the bishops had amended the text. The letter to Williams explained that a group of more than 25 bishops "representing diverse and divergent views gathered informally and, using the Indaba process learned at the Lambeth Conference 2008, had thoughtful, loving and candid conversation. The fruit of their conversation and prayer was presented to the House of Bishops in the form of a revision to Resolution C056 which was adopted by both houses thus becoming the action of the General Convention thus speaking definitively for the Episcopal Church."

The presiding officers concluded their letter to Williams saying, "The Episcopal Church treasures our relationships and partnerships as a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, and prays fervently for its life and mission, as we pray for you, brother Rowan, and your ministry as the spiritual leader of the communion."

— Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online and international correspondent of the Episcopal News Service.