News for Week Ending 12/1/2014

Same-sex marriage bans struck down in Mississippi, Arkansas

On November 26, 2014, federal district judges struck down bans on same-sex marriage in Mississippi and Arkansas. Orders in both cases where put on hold, giving defendants time to appeal. (SCOTUSblog reported on this and related cases.) According to an AP story, Mississippi’s attorney general quickly filed a notice of appeal. The Freedom to Marry Web site tracks cases involving same-sex marriage across the country and includes information about the Mississippi and Arkansas decisions.

Episcopal Church appeal rejected in Quincy case

On November 26, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from The Episcopal Church to the appellant court’s upholding a trial court decision concluding that the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy could leave the church. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court seems unlikely. Anglican Ink’s story on the court decision includes the court opinion.

Trinity, Wall Street, prevails in Wal-Mart Case

Fortune reported November 28, 2014, that a U.S. District court ruled that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., must allow a proposal from Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, to come before stockholders at the company’s 2015 annual meeting. The proposal would require the company to exercise tighter control over the sale of high-capacity guns and other potentially offensive merchandise. Wal-Mart views the proposal as interfering with its normal business operations. Trinity, Wall Street, filed suit after the Securities and Exchange Commission refused to require the company to put the proposal before stockholders. The court’s decision can be found here.

Church prepares for and reacts to Darren Wilson grand jury decision

The Episcopal Diocese of Missouri announced that many churches would be available for prayer and refuge once the grand jury decided whether Ferguson policeman Darren Wilson would be indicted for the killing of Michael Brown. Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, for example, offered this description of its preparations for the grand jury decision.

Episcopal News Service has collected statements from a number of Episcopal Church bishops on the failure of Darren Wilson to be indicted. You can read statements on the ENS Web site from: Bishop Mark Beckwith (Newark), Bishop Marc Andrus (California), Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop Wayne Smith (Missouri), Bishop William Stokes (New Jersey), Bishop Lawrence Provenzano (Long Island), and Bishop Dean Wolfe (Kansas). Other resources have been provided by ENS here, and here

Episcopal Café returns, sort of

Epsicopal Café has resumed activity on the Web after its promised makeover. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The collection of related blogs is particularly notable for its flagship blog The Lead, which has been a major source of news of interest to Episcopalians. Unfortunately, at least for now, links to older stories—Pittsburgh Update frequently links to The Lead—are unavailable. It is to be hoped that this situation will be corrected, but no promises have been made to that effect. Some, but not all, stories from Episcopal Café can be retrieved from the Internet Archive.