BabyBlue has a new letter from the diocese of Virginia posted on her blog. (It is not yet on the diocese's website.)

To the Clergy and Lay Leaders of The Diocese of Virginia
August 8, 2007

Dear Friends:

Many of you have written, called and sent e-mails of support in recent months. I am grateful for all that you do in support of the mission of the Church to be the hands and feet of Christ at work in the world. Our aim is to help preserve the integrity of the Church so that you can continue to do that as Episcopalians in The Diocese of Virginia and to make sure that future generations will be able to say "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You."

Clearly The Episcopal Church faces challenges as our church is beset by groups and individuals determined to hijack the legacy of our ancestors and make off with the inheritance we are honor bound to protect, preserve and pass on to future generations. We face opposition from groups that are not only leaving The Episcopal Church but are now also steering a new course away from the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is very telling that Dr. Ephraim Radner, one of the founders of the Anglican Communion Network, one of the realignment groups, has resigned and distanced himself from the mission of that group.

Closer to home, this is an important week in The Diocese of Virginia's defense of its heritage and stewardship of its future. On Friday, August 10, The Diocese of Virginia and The Episcopal Church will appear in Fairfax Circuit Court to defend our claim to Episcopal Church property against non-Episcopal groups that are trying to appropriate our churches for their own uses. This Friday, those groups will press technical and procedural claims that the Diocese and the Church have failed to state a case. In other words, they will try to have our case dismissed. Naturally, we oppose their actions. Later, in November, the court will hear arguments on the lawsuits, styled as petitions, filed by the Nigerian congregations that started this dispute. The Diocese and The Episcopal Church are named as defendants in that action.

The full text is here.


This elf can't resist pointing out, that as one of BabyBlue's commenters notes, the Diocese of VA leadership seems to be following the script of the "Revisionist Dictionary" by one of our favorite T19 commenters, "Irenaeus," which Stand Firm has been posting in sections this week. Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Irenaeus' definition of "hijack":

HIJACK: What the Orthodox want to do to the Episcopal Church. What the Orthodox assert that Progressives have done to the Episcopal Church.

Indeed.

Note: this is also posted at the Episcopal cafe.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Virginia

According to Victorino Mayoral, a Socialist lawmaker and president of the CIVES Foundation, which was involved in crafting the course, students will receive a mix of ethics, civics and study of human rights. Based on the values enshrined in Spain's 1978 Constitution, the course will cover issues ranging from domestic violence to dangerous driving, which claims thousands of Spanish lives every year.

But the course will also deal with issues like gender, sexuality and the family, and the church is up in arms.

Catholic bishops say the new course usurps the family's freedom to shape a child's morality and will impart values that in some instances diverge radically from their own. The Episcopal Conference has called on parents to protest the new syllabus by any legitimate means, and several bishops have called for a boycott.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Europe • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

The American Cathedral performs around 80 Episcopal ceremonies a year, the American Church in Paris will host 200, while an Adventist church outside Paris takes pole position with 300 weddings per year.

Hawaii is still the number one overseas wedding destination for Japanese, but Europe is gaining ground, with around 20,000 marriage ceremonies last year.

However, these picture postcard trips and ceremonies, costing anything from 2,000 Euros to 4,500 Euros (roughly £1,360-£3,000), are not strictly weddings, but "blessings" or "thanksgiving" ceremonies. They use many of the familiar wedding vows but as most couples have already been married in civil ceremonies in Japan, the words are changed to "I have taken you to be my wife" instead of the present tense.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Marriage & Family • * International News & Commentary • Europe

The celibacy rule is expected to be voted on tomorrow or Friday at the 4.9 million-member denomination's Churchwide Assembly in Chicago. The Evangelical Lutherans also will vote on whether to authorize blessings for same-sex unions.

The Word Alone Network, a conservative Lutheran group, opposes the proposals on the belief that gay sex, and all sex outside of marriage, is sinful, according to a spokesman.

Debate over the status of gay people has roiled other mainline Protestant denominations in recent years. In 2003, the Episcopal Church's decision to ordain a noncelibate gay man as bishop nearly caused a split in that church and has led to division within its worldwide body, the Anglican Communion.

Two other Lutheran ministers from New Jersey also came forward yesterday: the Rev. Gary LeCroy, of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Teaneck, and the Rev. Bruce Davidson, director of the Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in New Jersey.

LeCroy, 46, said he has not been in a committed same-sex relationship since he became a pastor in 1991. "I'm technically in accordance (with the celibacy rule)," he said. "But I have no intention of staying that way."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Lutheran

"I'm saddened by Bishop Lee's unnecessary action," said Rick Wright, rector of The Falls Church in the town of the same name. "It demonstrates not only the division in the diocese between us and them, but between the Episcopal Church and Anglican community."

Jim Oakes, vice president of ADV, echoed Wright's comments, saying it seemed the diocese was following a "scorched-earth policy."

Diocesan spokesman Patrick Getlein said the move was merely procedural, as the churches' decision to leave the Episcopal Church set in motion a six-month process. At the end of this process, if the clergy in question have not retracted their decision to leave the church, they are removed from ordained minister status.

"They were priests of the Episcopal Church," Getlein said. To align with something other than the Episcopal Church would mean they are no longer priests of that denomination, he added.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Virginia

Over the last several months, the Republican presidential field has been consumed by the near-collapse of Senator John McCain’s campaign, the question of whether Fred Thompson would enter the race, and whether Rudolph W. Giuliani’s appeal would endure.

But on the ground in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest, a pitched battle has broken out involving two lesser-known candidates who are trading accusations of religious bigotry and hypocrisy. The battle has become the most heated and personal rivalry in the Republican field.

The fight is for second place in the Aug. 11 Iowa Straw poll, a traditional bellwether that signals the strength of Republican campaigns, and it pits Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, against Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. And it could mean life or death to either of their candidacies.

The current tensions stem from an e-mail message sent to two Brownback supporters by Rev. Tim Rude, the pastor of an evangelical church in Walnut Creek, Iowa. In the message, Mr. Rude, a Huckabee volunteer, compared the religious backgrounds of Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist pastor, and Mr. Brownback, who is Roman Catholic.

“I know Senator Brownback converted to Roman Catholicism in 2002,” Mr. Rude wrote. “Frankly, as a recovering Catholic myself, that is all I need to know about his discernment when compared to the Governor’s.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • US Presidential Election 2008

Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds.

Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.

"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it's their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don't feel engaged and welcome," says associate director Scott McConnell.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches

When pools of water began accumulating on the floor in some restrooms at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the sinks pulling away from the walls, the problem was easy to pinpoint. On this campus, more than 10 percent of the students are Muslims, and as part of ritual ablutions required before their five-times-a-day prayers, some were washing their feet in the sinks.

The solution seemed straightforward. After discussions with the Muslim Students’ Association, the university announced that it would install $25,000 foot-washing stations in several restrooms.

But as a legal and political matter, that solution has not been quite so simple. When word of the plan got out this spring, it created instant controversy, with bloggers going on about the Islamification of the university, students divided on the use of their building-maintenance fees, and tricky legal questions about whether the plan is a legitimate accommodation of students’ right to practice their religion — or unconstitutional government support for that religion.

“It’s an awkward thing,” said Alexis Oesterle, a junior. “If I’m sitting with Muslim friends, I wouldn’t want to bring it up. In this country, at this time, it’s not so easy to discuss the issues of Muslims in American society.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Education • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam