News for Week Ending 8/17/2009

Lutherans to vote on gay clergy

According to an August 15, 2009, report from National Public Radio, clergy and laypeople of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will vote this week on whether to allow partnered gay pastors. The decision will be made at a week-long meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The measure is given a good chance of passage. Text and audio of the story are available on the NPR Web site.

More GC summaries appear

A month after the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church ended, summaries and interpretations of what was done in Anaheim are still appearing. Episcopal News Service ran its own brief summary (“Summaries of General Convention actions now available”), and the General Convention Office has produced the more comprehensive “Summary of Actions of the 76th General Convention,” available as a 25-page PDF file. Episcopal layperson Pamela Dolan did a good job of providing an answer to the question “What’s happening in the Episcopal Church?” in her essay for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

SC bishop urges diocese to distance itself from Episcopal Church

Bishop of South Carolina Mark Lawrence, in an address to diocesan clergy August 13, 2009, accused The Episcopal Church of “a multitude of false teachings.” He announced that a resolution will be brought before an October 24 special convention. That resolution will assert that the diocese should “begin withdrawing from all bodies of governance of TEC that have assented to actions contrary to Holy Scripture; the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them; the resolutions of Lambeth which have expressed the mind of the Communion; the Book of Common Prayer (p.422-423) and the Constitution & Canons of TEC (Canon 18:1.2.b) until such bodies show a willingness to repent of such actions.” Lawrence urged that the Diocese of South Carolina approve the Anglican covenant draft, even as its fourth section is being revised. He said that his diocese should find a way to support conservative parishes in other dioceses.

Lawrence’s address is posted on his diocese’s Web site. Episcopal News Service and The Living Church each reported on the address. Additional resources are available on Thinking Anglicans.

Quincy gets new Web site

The Diocese of Qunicy, the smallest of the four diocese that, like Pittsburgh, experienced a mass departure of conservatives, has a new Web site. The site, whose appearance is a clear sign that the diocese is moving forward, can be found at http://myepiscopaldioceseofquincy.org/.

Briefs filed in Supreme Court appeal

Two friend of the court briefs have been filed supporting the request for Supreme Court review by St. James, Newport Beach. The California Supreme Court ruled against the breakaway church and in favor of the Diocese of Los Angeles in their property dispute. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) Philadelphia’s The Bulletin reported August 10, 2009, that Good Shepherd, Rosemont, which has been involved in a longstanding dispute with the Diocese of Pennsylvania, has filed a brief supporting St. James. A brief supporting St. James has also been filed by a group of Presbyterian laypeople who have engaged Kenneth Starr as their attorney. That July 27, 2009, filing can be read here.