News for Week Ending 2/11/2013

Opinions clash in UK over gay marriage

The UK government’s plan to approve gay marriage has been attacked as a danger to freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and the plan has been countered by government analysis. Aidan O’Neill QC (Queen’ Counsel) has written a legal opinion raising questions about the plan. His full analysis is not available on the Web, but a summary of it is. The government, in response, has issued two documents (here and here) refuting O’Neill’s analysis.

Process to allow women bishops moves forward in CoE

The discussions in the Church of England searching for a way to allow for women bishops—see Pittsburgh Update story here—resulted in the House of Bishops issuing a statement indicating that the all-male body will incorporate a number of senior women clergy until women bishops can take their place. Episcopal New Service covered developments in a story published February 7, 2013. On February 8, the Church of England released a consultation document setting forth principles in the search for new legislation to provide for women bishops and soliciting comments. (The announcement is here, and the consultation document itself is here.) It seems likely that the legislation to be introduced next summer will be more straightforward and self-contained.

Task Force on Structure to meet February 14

The Episcopal Church’s Task Force on Structure will meet for the first time February 14–16, 2013, in Linthicum Heights, Maryland. The group was created by the 2012 General Convention to consider changes to polity to streamline church operations. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.)  The story was reported by Episcopal News Service February 11.

Fort Worth posts video: ‘Our Stories, Ourselves’

The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth has posted a video on YouTube titled Our Stories, Ourselves. The 18-minute video shows Fort Worth Episcopalians telling stories of their churches after their bishop led diocesan leaders and many parishioners out of The Episcopal Church. The video was posted February 6, 2013, and tells the story of the past four years.