News for Week Ending 3/2/2015

GAFCON leader criticizes Welby, Episcopal Church

In his Lent pastoral letter, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, uses a book review to attack Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and The Episcopal Church. The subject of the review, written by Martin Davie, is the book Living Reconciliation, which contains a foreword by Welby and has been promoted in an Anglican Communion News Service story. Wabukala, echoing the Davie review, argues that reconciliation does not mean learning to live with diverse views. Instead, it asserts that “[t]he New Testament teaches that reconciliation with each other flows from reconciliation with God through repentance and faith in the gospel message.” Davie concludes:

A clear doctrinal framework, such as that provided by GAFCON’s Jerusalem Statement and Declaration, or the first part of the Anglican Communion Covenant, plus an agreed way of handling disputes and exercising discipline when required, would provide a better model for the Communion to follow.

New Zealand bishop demoted for remarks about Jews, Muslims

The Press, of Christchurch, New Zealand, reported February 25, 2015, that Bishop John Gray has been removed temporarily from his posts as bishop in one diocese and vicar general in another in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Complaints were lodged against Gray for remarks he made about Jews and Muslims. He told a group of visiting Jews that the Holocaust “should have taught you a lesson,” and he chided Muslims for not having done enough to counter the slaughter carried out by ISIS and al Qaeda.

Federal judge rules Nebraska same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

On March 2, 2015, Federal District Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled Nebraska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, calling it an “unabashedly gender-specific infringement of the equal rights of its citizens.” His ruling takes effect on March 9. The state expects to request a stay from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Reuters story about this development also noted that litigants from Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky seeking the expansion of same-sex marriage filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on same-sex marriages by the beginning of summer.

Priest and Café editor arrested in Virginia protest

The Rev. Weston Mathews, a Richmond, Virginia, priest and a contributing editor to Episcopal Café, was arrested with 9 others February 24, 2015, in conjunction with a protest of a proposed natural gas pipeline. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would run 550 miles through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Details can be read on Episcopal Café.

Malcolm Boyd dead at 91

The Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd, Episcopal priest, prolific writer, and advocate for civil rights and gay rights died in Los Angeles on February 27, 2015. Boyd was the author of 30 books, most famously the book of prayers titled Are You Running with Me, Jesus? which became a bestseller. Details of his extraordinary life are detailed in stories from Episcopal News Service and the Los Angeles Times. Additional information about Boyd can be found in Wikipedia.