First Advent

Thanks, Jerusalem, for this post. It's my favorite Advent hymn.

Celebrating the Birth of the Savior, Planned Parenthood Style

Words fail. h/t to Transfigurations.


Just In Time for Christmas - Gift Cards for Abortions from Planned Parenthood

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, November 26, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Planned Parenthood of Indiana has announced just in time for Christmas that it will begin selling gift certificates at its clinics and online, which can be used for all PP services, including payment for birth control, STD testing, and abortions.

The Planned Parenthood of Indiana website says the gift cards can be used for "services or the recipient’s choice of birth control method," and poses the question "Why not buy a loved one a gift this holiday season that they really need"?

When asked about the appropriateness of a gift card for abortion, Chrystal Struben-Hall, Vice President of Planned Parenthood of Indiana told WISH-TV, "They really are intended for preventative healthcare. We decided not to put restrictions on the gift certificates so it's for whatever people feel they need the services for most."

Indiana Family Institute President Curt Smith, however, said he is appalled by the certificates.

"I think the way to help family planning is to give the money where there's no agenda. So if somebody wants to help a woman at a time of crisis, they can support the life centers throughout Indiana," Smith said in the WISH-TV report.

One blogger at the highly popular “Hot Air” blog quipped, “What kind of relationship would you have to have with someone for a gift certificate from Planned Parenthood to be appropriate? If you’re buying for your significant other, cash works just as well. If you’re buying for friends, um … what’s the message there? ‘Merry Christmas, buddy. The next prostate exam’s on me.’”

More Bob Dylan from Wednesday Night's concert

I got to hear Bob Dylan in concert this week...

Bishop Iker inhibited

Breaking news from BabyBlue

In celebration of the new North American Province.....

maybe it's time to break out a bottle of Indaba!

Archbishops Anis, Nzimbi, Akrofi: We Will Recognize the New North American Province

From Stand Firm:


Greg Griffith: Bishop Duncan, can you tell us more about the new province?

Bishop Duncan: It was the GAFCON conference that spoke so clearly, saying ‘It is our view that the time has come for a new province to be recognized in North America,’ and that the Common Cause Partners are the basis of that province. We here in the states have taken that very seriously, we’ve done a tremendous amount of hard work, we’ve made deep commitments to one another, and the Common Cause Partnership, which has an annual meeting of the representation of the U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions – that happens early in December – and at that time our governance task force will come forward with a draft provincial constitution on which we’ve had help from our foreign partners.

The recognition process I think will be one by which our partners, who were the Jerusalem primates, are going to decide whether they’ll issue recognition by their provinces.

Greg Griffith [to Archbishops Anis, Nzimbi and Akrofi]: Are Your Graces all going to support the new province?

Archbishop Anis: Yes… Oh yes.

Archbishops Nzimbi and Akrofi: Yes. [all nodding affirmatively]

Greg Griffith: You’ll all be on record as recognizing the new province?

[All]: Yes.

Archbisop Nzimbi: They have been accepted by us, in terms of their belief, and they need a refuge. It is important for us to come together, and give them that refuge, believing in what they are doing.


Read the rest....

The Presiding Bishop regrets......

From the Dallas Morning News:

The Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, released the following statement Saturday:

“The Episcopal Church Kingdom of Egypt grieves the departures of a number of persons indentured servants from the Diocese of Fort Worth Province of Goshen. We remind those former Episcopalians involuntary workers that the door is open if they wish to return. We will work with Episcopalians indentured servants in the Diocese of Fort Worth Province of Goshen to elect new leadership appoint new over-seers and continue the work of the gospel Millennium Development Goals in that part of Texas Egypt.

“The gospel Millennium Development Goals work to which Jesus our vehicle to the divine calls us demands the best efforts of faithful egocentric, hedonistic, sin-enslaved people from many theological poly sexual and social transgendered perspectives, and the Episcopal Church Kingdom of Egypt will continue to welcome that diversity lock-step conformity.”

--Pharaoh

Fort Worth joins the Southern Cone

From this thread at Stand Firm:

I don't know if this is the official count, but it's pretty decisive.


Votes on Constitutional amendments (all passing):
A. clergy for: 73 Clergy against: 18

laity for: 104 Laity against: 26

B. clergy for: 72 clergy against: 19

laity for: 102 laity against: 25

C. clergy for: 71 clergy against: 19

laity for: 103 laity against: 24

D. clergy for: 72 clergy against: 19

laity for: 102 laity against: 25


Comment #[23] Posted by monologistos on 11-15-2008 at 12:29 PM

Terrorrism, GLBT style

White powder sent to Mormon temples in Utah, LA

Letters containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to Mormon temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that were the sites of protests against the church's support of California's gay marriage ban.
The temple in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was evacuated before a hazardous materials crew determined the envelope's contents were not toxic, said FBI spokesman Jason Pack.
The temple in downtown Salt Lake City, where the church is based, received a similar envelope containing a white powder that spilled onto a clerk's hand.
The room was decontaminated and the envelope taken by the FBI for testing. The clerk showed no signs of illness, but the scare shut down a building at Temple Square for more than an hour, said Scott Freitag, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
None of the writing on the envelope was threatening, and the church received no calls or messages related to the package, Freitag said.
Protests in recent days have targeted the Mormon church, which encouraged its members to fight the recently passed amendment banning gay marriage in California.

h/t to StandFirm

The return of the Blacklist

Thanks to Stand Firm for the link to these stories:

From the Sacramento Bee:

Prop. 8 gift gets theater's leader in a ruckus

Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California Musical Theatre after learning that its artistic director donated $1,000 to a campaign that backed banning gay marriage in California.

The rest here.

Scott Ekern has since "resigned". A 25 year career over, because he dared to vote his conscience. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the New Tolerance.

And Quincy makes three.......

Resolution 2008-RM-1
Annulling Accession to the Constitution and Canons of
The Protestant Episcopal Church


WHEREAS, the General Convention and leaders of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States (“The Episcopal Church”) have failed to uphold the teaching and authority of
Holy Scripture, have challenged or belittled core doctrines of the Christian faith, have refused
to conform to the agreed teaching and discipline of the Anglican Communion, and have
rejected the godly counsel of the leaders of our Communion; and
WHEREAS, the Diocese of Quincy desires to remain faithful to Holy Scripture and to the
historic faith and order of the Church as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, and to
preserve its link to historic Anglicanism by considering affiliation with the Anglican Church of
the Southern Cone;
therefore be it
RESOLVED, under the authority and provisions Article II of the Constitution of this Diocese as
adopted in 1993, that this 131st Synod of the Diocese of Quincy, gathered the ____ day of
November, 2008, hereby annuls its accession to the Constitution and Canons of The
Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States of America, otherwise known as The Episcopal Church; and be it further
RESOLVED, that by this action the Diocese of Quincy is no longer subject to, nor bound by,
the authority of the Episcopal Church, its General Convention, its officers, councils or agents;
and as of this date no actions or asserted claims of the Episcopal Church, or its General
Convention, or its officers, councils, and agents, whether for acts or omissions alleged to
have occurred before or after the date hereof, shall have any canonical or legal effect upon,
or application to, this Diocese, its Bishop, any retired bishop, its clergy, its lay members, or
its member churches.
----
EXPLANATION: Since 1993, under Article II of our Diocesan Constitution, our accession to
the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church has been “contingent upon the
continuing consent of Diocesan Synod.” This Resolution withdraws that consent and thereby
Diocese of Quincy, Proposed Synod Resolutions, 2008, Page 2
annuls our accession. Such action is necessary if the Diocese wishes to re-affiliate with the
Province of the Southern Cone.
NOTE: Since Resolution 2008-CC-1 below (the 2nd reading of 2007-CC-1), will amend the
same Article II of our Constitution, 2008-RM-1 is presented first to make clear that this first
action is taken under the authority of our Constitution as it has stood since 1993.
FUNDING IMPLICATIONS: Ending our affiliation with the General Convention of the
Episcopal Church may result in the Diocese or individual churches facing legal challenges
from officers or agents of the Episcopal Church if they attempt to assert control of properties
or funds held by our Diocese and churches. The likelihood of such litigation is uncertain, and
the costs cannot be accurately predicted.


Thanks to Stand Firm.

Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh re-elects Bishop Robert Duncan

Bishop Robert Duncan is once again the diocesan bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Clergy and lay deputies to a special convention of the diocese on November 7 voted to invite Bishop Duncan back into leadership of the diocese 50 days after the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church voted to remove ("depose") him.

"It is good to be back. God has clearly watched over the diocese and watched over me and Nara as we have walked through these challenging days together. God willing, I look forward to many years together sharing the good news of Jesus Christ," said Bishop Duncan.

Leaders representing a majority of the world's Anglican Christians, as well as many inside and outside The Episcopal Church in North America, never accepted the validity of The House of Bishops' decision to remove Bishop Duncan from leadership. In spite of the decision's deep defects, Bishop Duncan and the diocese elected to submit to the purported "deposition," so long as the diocese was part of that denomination.

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh was able to invite Bishop Duncan back into leadership after it voted to leave The Episcopal Church and temporarily join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone on October 4. The diocese made the decision after years of disagreement with the leadership of The Episcopal Church over basic Christian beliefs about the authority of the Bible, the unique role of Jesus Christ in salvation, and Christian moral standards. At the conclusion of that diocesan convention, the Standing Committee of the diocese, led by the Rev. David Wilson, announced that there would be a special convention on November 7 for the purpose of electing a bishop.

With the election complete, clergy and laity from around the diocese are participating in the "Moving Forward in Mission" conference at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh on November 8. The conference features the Rev. Mike Breen, who has done extensive work helping parishes effectively make new Christians in their local communities.

"The most important thing now is to move beyond our conflict with the leadership of The Episcopal Church and turn all of our energies toward living as Christians and effectively sharing the good news of God's love and mercy for all people in the places God has put us. I am looking forward to hearing what Mike has to say to us tomorrow," said Bishop Duncan.

Free concert to support Love146.org

Featuring Ten Shekel Shirt and The Wrecking.

Hosted by Campus Ambassadors of both Hartwick College and SUNY College at Oneonta, as well as a number of other campus groups, this concert, featuring Ten Shekel Shirt and The Wrecking, is to raise awareness of the horrors of human trafficing and funds for the work of Love146.org. The concert is FREE. There will be a silent art auction (faculty, student and local artists participating) and coffee, tea and snacks sold to raise funds. If you are in the Oneonta area Thursday, November 6th, come to this concert!

All Saints' Day