News for Week Ending 5/23/2011

Church of Scotland takes step toward gay acceptance

The Church of Scotland, which is a Presbyterian, not an Anglican, church, voted May 23, 2011, to have a new commission consider same-sex issues within the church. The report from the Guardian that the church has voted to allow gay clergy is apparently wrong. Keven Holdsworth, Provost of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, reputedly sets the record straight on his blog. He claims the vote is not a victory for inclusiveness, but a small step in that direction.

Commission puts same-sex resources on-line

Episcopal News Service reported May 16, 2011, that the church’s Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) has placed theological and liturgical resources it has collected on the blessing of same-sex unions on-line. The 2006 General Convention directed the SCLM to collect such resources through its Resolution C056. The new SCLM archive can be found here.

Virginia churches align with ACNA

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), led by Archbishop Robert Duncan, has announced that the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV) is joining ACNA as the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic (ADMA). On May 21, 2011, ADV chose the Rt. Rev. John Guernsey as its bishop. ADV has been a part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), which claims to be part of the Nigerian Anglican church. According to CANA, many of the ADMA “congregations and clergy will continue to be in partnership with CANA in order to maintain their connection to the Anglican Communion.” Many of the ADMA congregations and clergy are also in litigation with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia over parish property.

Parties in Fort Worth dispute negotiating

According to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, the May 19, 2011, hearing before Judge John P. Chupp has not led to any order from the bench. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) Instead, the judge invited the parties representing the two sides of the diocesan split to reach a settlement of the immediate issues on their own. Negotiations are apparently going on now. The story was reported by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.