Search

Commentary

A Reflection on the Hutto Service

I had lump in my throat as our bus turned a corner and headed down a narrow rural road. I knew we had to be close, and it hit me where we were going. We were in a caravan of 19 buses making the 40-minute journey from the Austin Convention Center to a world away…
Read the full article  

Podcast de Nancy Frausto, Episodio 1: El Rdo. Francisco Morales
 |  |

La Rda. Nancy Frausto, rectora asociada de la Iglesia Episcopal de San Lucas en Long Beach, California, y miembro fundador del Grupo de Trabajo del Santuario de la Diócesis de Los Ángeles, presenta un podcast de #GC79. Invitado: El Rdo. Francisco Morales, de la Diócesis de Puerto Rico y coordinador de la IX Provincia. Los temas…
Read the full article  

Israel and Palestine: Pursue Positive Investment

I write in prayerful and cautious opposition to Resolution C017 “A Just Peace in the Holy Land”— and I do so as a person who is concerned about protecting and supporting Palestinians. It is my opinion that this resolution will have the unintentional consequence of further harming the very Palestinians it aims to protect. My…
Read the full article  

Israel and Palestine: Let Us Question Our Caution

The 79th General Convention is considering at least twelve separate resolutions on Israel and Palestine: C035, C038, B003, D019, D018, D027, D028, D038, D039, D041, B018, B021, C017 The topics range from ending the imprisonment of Palestinian children to the protection of the diversity in Jerusalem. General Convention regularly considers the Episcopal Church’s role in the…
Read the full article  

Listening to Young Voices Speak of Gun Violence
 |  |

In the spring of my sophomore year of high school, my friends and I sat in the back corner of our pre-calculus math class during what we thought was just a lockdown drill. “There was supposed to be one tomorrow,” we all thought. “They must be doing it early since everyone found out.” As the…
Read the full article  

If GC Directs, CPF “must comply”
 |  |

In 1910 the General Convention acted to create the Joint Commission on the Support of the Clergy to study the feasibility of a pension system, and, four years later, through other acts of Convention, the Church Pension Fund (CPF) was incorporated in the State of New York. At the time, under the encouragement of Bishop…
Read the full article  

GC’s Authority Over CPF : “clear, but limited”
 |  |

The Church Pension Fund (CPF) exists to support the clergy and lay employees of the Episcopal Church in their calling to spread the gospel.  For more than 100 years, our relationship with General Convention has been critical to fulfilling that purpose. CPF was created in 1913 by an act of General Convention.  Around that time,…
Read the full article  

Truth Precedes Reconciliation

I appreciate the boldness of the promise in the Baptismal Covenant about evil and sin. It states: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? And we all reply, “I will, with God’s help,” often not fully digesting the promise we’ve just made. I appreciate…
Read the full article  

The View from Europe
 |  |

Even before I arrived in Austin, the most wondrous messages about events were showing up in my email box. A Celebration of Earth and the Cosmos. The Harvest Prayer Network. The Provincial Gathering. Racial Healing. A prayer service at a detention center for immigrants. And that was before I heard Michael Curry blow our socks…
Read the full article  

Make the Marriage Rites Available to All
 |  |

“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…
Read the full article  

Find a “Gracious Compromise” on the Marriage Resolutions
 |  |

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…
Read the full article  

The Case Against Revision

As a parish priest, I see a need for Common Prayer revision, but I am strongly opposed to Book of Common Prayer revision. Lest you imagine I am preparing to found the 1979 BCP Society, let me explain. Certainly, parts of the Book of Common Prayer need to be revised and refreshed. From marriage liturgies…
Read the full article