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Monthly archives: July 2018

#GC79 Podcast: the Uncomfortable General Convention
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Miguel Escobar, director of Anglican studies at EDS@Union, hosts the second nightly #GC79 podcast. Guests: The Rev. Laurie Brock is the rector of St. Michael the Archangel in Lexington, Kentucky and a deputy from the Diocese of Lexington. She serves on the House of Deputies Special Committee on Sexual Harassment and Exploitation. Brian Romero is a member…
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The Marriage Resolutions: A Primer
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The topic of marriage – who is included, how the church is involved, and what the rites should look like – has been in front of every General Convention for at least 40 years. The 79th General Convention will be no different. The focus this time will be on the recommendations of the 19-member Task…
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Time to Pay the PHoD
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It’s Time to Pay the Presiding Officer of the House of Deputies. Until yesterday, three resolutions were being considered to authorize some form of compensation for the President of the House of Deputies: A028 from Task Force to Study Church Leadership & Compensation, B014 from a group of bishops led by Bishop Sean Rowe of…
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Rethink the PHoD’s Job
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The 79th General Convention will be my second as a deputy. My first foray into the inner workings of our denomination’s national structure was prompted by the calls to reimagine the church. I believed, and still believe, that the Episcopal Church is going to have to make some difficult and imaginative decisions if we are…
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Make the Marriage Rites Available to All
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“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were.” –Justice Anthony Kennedy “’Will all of you gathered to witness these vows do all in your power to uphold and honor…
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Find a “Gracious Compromise” on the Marriage Resolutions
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This reflection began when I received an email noting that I was a deputy from a diocese whose bishop had not authorized the use of rites to marry same-sex couples, and asking if I would be willing to write a short piece on Resolution A085 since I was to serve on Committee 13, which received…
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#GC79 Podcast: Why General Convention Matters
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Miguel Escobar, director of Anglican studies at EDS@Union, hosts the first of his nightly #GC79 podcasts. Guests: The Rev. Megan Castellan is the new rector of St.John’s in Ithaca, NY, and an alternate deputy in the diocese of West Missouri. Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale is a deputy, and serves as canon to the ordinary for administration and evangelism in…
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Video: Meet the #GC79 Deputies
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Meet a few of the deputies gathered for the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.

Better translations, please

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). This one verse in the Gospel of John reminds us, as we gathered in Austin for the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, that we are invited to continue God’s movement toward people by all means possible.  What Resolution A070 proposes represents this…
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To Revise or Not to Revise: A Prayer Book Primer

Since January, when the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) released its Blue Book Report, the subject of Prayer Book revision has been a hot topic on Facebook, in clergy groups, and at gatherings of liturgy aficionados, For the last three years, the commission has been addressing Resolution A169 of the 2015 convention, which…
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The Case for Inclusive Language

I remember it like it was yesterday. A friend and I were walking from our high school, through a white working-class neighborhood to catch a bus home. This was often a perilous walk, as it was on this particular day. Within a few blocks of our journey a couple of young neighborhood boys began throwing…
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The Case Against Inclusive Language

It hadn’t occurred to me that the political methodology of Donald Trump would see daylight at the 79th General Convention! But, then, I hadn’t looked at a proposal for reconstructing how the church speaks of God and man. And of woman. Woman in particular. The Trump methodology: First you blow it up; then, with whatever…
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