House of Bishops’ online meeting kicks off with briefing on escalating coronavirus outbreak

From ENS-

This wasn’t what anyone expected the March meeting of The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops would look like.

When Presiding Bishop Michael Curry kicked off the meeting on March 10 with brief remarks, he did so in front of a web camera instead of in front of his fellow bishops. Their gathering this week originally had been scheduled to occur in person at Camp Allen in Texas, but days ago, Curry announced he was changing it to a virtual gathering due to the risks of bringing so many people together from all corners of the church at a time when the global coronavirus outbreak is spreading unchecked, including in the United States.

Curry acknowledged the drawbacks of this arrangement, including “for those of us who tend to be more interactive preachers” – that being Curry’s own tendency. “I can’t see your faces, so I can’t react to you,” he said. “I have no idea if you are asleep or awake, but nonetheless, I’ll give it my best shot.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/03/10/house-of-bishops-online-meeting-kicks-off-with-briefing-on-escalating-coronavirus-outbreak/

Episcopal House of Bishops September 2019: A Message of Love and Solidarity from the Bishops and Spouses to The Episcopal Church

From ENS-

The House of Bishops and their spouses met for their interim meeting at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Minneapolis. At their September 20 business meeting, they adopted the following:

A Message of Love and Solidarity from the Bishops and Spouses to The Episcopal Church

For many bishops and bishops’ spouses of The Episcopal Church, next summer’s Lambeth Conference has become the occasion for a mixture of joy and sorrow, hope and disappointment. We cherish the bonds of affection that we enjoy with our Anglican siblings around the world. Gathering in prayer, study, and fellowship with our spiritual family is a gift for which we are profoundly grateful.

We, bishops and spouses choose to remain in community with each other as we navigate this passage in our common journey. We choose to remain one in the love of Jesus.
Our hearts are, however, troubled. The Lambeth Conference 2020 intentionally recognizes and underscores the important role bishops’ spouses play in the ministry of the episcopate. And yet, spouses of bishops in same-gender marriages have received no invitation to participate. Their exclusion wounds those who are excluded, their spouses, and their friends within and beyond the House of Bishops.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/episcopal-house-of-bishops-september-2019-a-message-of-love-and-solidarity-from-the-bishops-and-spouses-to-the-episcopal-church/

Bishops step up preparations for Lambeth Conference amid anxiety over spousal invitations

From ENS-

Diocese of New York Assistant Bishop Mary Glasspool left no ambiguity about her plans to attend the Lambeth Conference 2020. She is going, even if her wife was specifically denied an invitation.
“The Diocese of New York needs to be represented. We need to be at the table,” Glasspool said Sept. 19 during an informal group discussion about Lambeth during the House of Bishops’ fall meeting.

The question of whether to go to Lambeth or to stay home has fueled anxiety this week among some of the Episcopal bishops and spouses gathered at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s decision to exclude spouses of gay and lesbian bishops from next year’s Lambeth Conference sparked an uproar within The Episcopal Church and in some other corners of the Anglican Communion.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/09/19/bishops-step-up-preparations-for-lambeth-conference-amid-anxiety-over-spousal-invitations/

Presiding Bishop’s sermon at opening Eucharist of House of Bishops’ fall 2019 meeting

From ENS-

Good morning.

Welcome to all bishops and spouses, who are here gathered today and thank you to the Diocese of Minnesota for hosting us.

Allow me to interpret one text, actually two, which is not going to be as long as you think. To interpret the epistle and the gospel from the lens of the third text from the Hebrew scripture, from the Epistle from Colossians (3:14, 17)

Above all, “Above all, clothe yourselves in love.  And in everything you do, in word and in deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Above all, clothe yourselves in love, and in everything you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And the gospel from John, chapter three.

God so loved the world, he gave His only begotten Son to the end that all that believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God so loved the world that He gave Jesus.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/presiding-bishops-sermon-at-opening-eucharist-of-house-of-bishops-fall-2019-meeting/

House of Bishop opens fall meeting with discussions of same-sex spouse exclusion from Lambeth 2020

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops gathered here on Sept. 17 to begin a four-day meeting where the question of the Lambeth Conference 2020 loomed from the outset, both as a point of punctuation in Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s opening sermon and as the scheduled topic of discussion for the first afternoon.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in calling all bishops in the Anglican Communion to attend the Lambeth Conference next summer, chose to invite gay and lesbian bishops but not their spouses, a plan he saw as a way to balance the divisions in the communion but one that drew criticism, including from within The Episcopal Church. By the time Lambeth starts on July 22, The Episcopal Church will have at least three bishops with same-sex spouses.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/09/17/house-of-bishop-opens-fall-meeting-with-discussions-of-same-sex-spouse-exclusion-from-lambeth-2020/

Episcopal House of Bishops March 2019: The Bishops’ Mind of the House Resolution on Lambeth and a statement from the Bishops’ Spouses Planning Group

From ENS-

The House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church met in retreat at Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, North Carolina. At their March 15 business meeting, they adopted the following Mind of the House Resolution and received a statement from the Bishops’ Spouses Planning Group which follows the bishops’ statement.

---

Bishops gathered at the Spring 2019 meeting of the House of Bishops are aggrieved and distressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision to exclude same sex spouses of bishops from participating in the Lambeth Conference, 2020. We appreciate that all of our bishops diocesan, suffragan, and assistant have been invited, and are concerned by the use of exclusion as a means of building communion.
At this time, the majority of bishops invited plan to attend the conference. Through our presence we will participate fully in the program of the conference, as well as seek to further the conversation around the various cultural expressions of marriage. We intend to build relationships and missional partnerships that will be inclusive vehicles for building communion across the Anglican world in all its beautiful diversity. We will seek to reflect our varied understandings of marriage, as well as our profound commitment to the dignity of all human beings, including the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/03/15/episcopal-house-of-bishops-march-2019-the-bishops-mind-of-the-house-resolution-on-lambeth-and-a-statement-from-the-bishops-spouses-planning-group/

House of Bishops opens spring meeting with exploration of the Way of Love

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has begun a four-day deep dive into the Way of Love, which Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls a rule of life for the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.

Curry explained to the house that the idea for the Way of Love, an intentional commitment to follow Jesus and adopt a set of practices, including turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go and rest, grew out of a meeting of a group of bishops, clergy and laypeople he called together to consider how to help Episcopalians keep Jesus at the center of their lives and at the center of the church.

The question, he said, is how to live in such a way that, “when folk look at Episcopalians, they no longer see those that we celebrated for their power and their glory, but they see those who celebrate the glory and the grandeur and the goodness of God. How do we make that happen?”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/03/12/house-of-bishops-open-spring-meeting-with-exploration-of-the-way-of-love/

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 4

From Dan Martins-

... and another one is in the books. Here I am with my table mates. We've been together since the meeting right here at Camp Allen two years ago, and will remain together through General Convention, after which we will get shuffled and re-dealt.

This meeting is a day shorter than has been the case for several years--four full days instead of five. The compressed schedule is more demanding, to be sure, with less down time for rest or recreation. But, on balance, I prefer it. I am especially grateful not to be here over a Sunday.

The Eucharist this morning (straight Rite II, Prayer C) was celebrated by the Presiding Bishop. The preacher was Jeff Fisher, Bishop Suffragan of Texas. He did a fine job. I always enjoy hearing other bishops preach to bishops. They invariably bring their lives and ministries to the task in ways that their hearers can readily identify with.

More here-

https://movingdiagonally.blogspot.com/2018/03/spring-2018-house-of-bishops-day-4.html

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 3

From Dan Martins-

Once again, the day began with Eucharist. This time, though, I took a pass, and opted for a vigorous walk on a brisk morning. Having looked at the liturgy sheet in advance, there were enough triggers that I knew the net spiritual effect for me would be negative. #selfcare  I will say, however, that HOB worship has gotten incrementally less problematic during the tenure of the current Presiding Bishop, and I give props for that.

When we convened at 10:15, there were the usual announcements, then a whirlwind set of summary reports from bishop members of the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) and the Task Force on the Study of Marriage. The full reports that they were summarizing, containing substantive and enormously significant resolutions being submitted to General Convention, are enormous--including revision of the Prayer Book, and it wasn't quite fair to anyone that they had to be presented in such a temporally condensed manner. And it was even less fair that our consideration of the material had to occur in less than an hour. This took the form of Indaba groups. We adjourned to breakout rooms in groups of about 20 each. The Indaba process involves each one present speaking his or her heart, in turn, into the center of the group, with no crosstalk or discussion in the conventional sense. We were asked to respond to, "How do you imagine liturgy in the future of the Episcopal Church? What are your hopes? What are your fears?" 

More here-

https://movingdiagonally.blogspot.com/2018/03/spring-2018-house-of-bishops-2018.html

House of Bishops pledges advocacy to end gun violence, sexual violence

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops said March 7 its members will support two major social movements, one to end gun violence and the other to end sexual harassment, violence and gender bias.

The bishops said they “wholeheartedly support and join” young people who survived the deadly Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in their call for an end to gun violence.

In the other statement, they said they knew the “church has fallen short of our responsibility to listen and respond” to “the reality of sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and the cultural stronghold of gender bias and inequity.” The bishops “invite the church to a deeper examination of what God intends for our relationships,” including at the July meeting of General Convention.

Both statements were “accepted” during their annual spring retreat, according to press releases issued by the church’s Office of Public Affairs. The bishops are gathered March 6-9 at Camp Allen, an Episcopal camp and conference center in Navasota, Texas.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2018/03/07/house-of-bishops-pledges-advocacy-to-end-gun-violence-sexual-violence/

Spring 2018 House of Bishops, Day 1

From Dan Martins- (ENS link below as well)

Today was about evangelism. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been clear from the beginning of his tenure that evangelism and racial reconciliation were going to be the touchstones of his ministry, and he has remained true to his word.

We began the day with a celebration of the Eucharist at which Bishop Curry was the preacher. He emphasized the need for the work of evangelism to be rooted in Christian formation, and also got into the fray around the use of the word "Lord," about which many in the church are sensitive because of perceived patriarchal overtones. He acknowledged the difficulty, but basically said, "Get used to it. The earliest Christian creed was 'Jesus is Lord.' It's part of our vocabulary." He suggested reclaiming the work away from connotations of oppression or exploitation, remembering the important corollary: If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not Lord--whoever or whatever "Caesar" may be to it. It was an encouraging homily. 

More here-

https://movingdiagonally.blogspot.com/2018/03/spring-2018-house-of-bishops-day-1.html

More here-

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/episcopal-house-bishops-meeting-retreat-march-6-highlights

One nation, divided under God

From The Church Times-

SIX days after it was confirmed that the United States had elected Donald John Trump as its 45th President (News, 11 November 2016), the President of the US Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, the Revd Gay Clark Jennings, warned the Church of the baptismal promise to “resist evil”.

“The desire to foster ‘reconciliation’ is deep in Christians’ bones,” she wrote. “But too often the Church preaches reconciliation when what we really want is to avoid unpleasantness, or get approval from worldly powers and principalities. . . Reconciliation is holy work. Resistance is, too. We need to watch and wait to see what God is calling us to do.”

In the 12 months that ensued, Episcopalians and their leaders proved ready to take the latter course of action. Among the presidential actions opposed by bishops were the withdrawal from the Paris agreement on tackling climate change (News, 2 June); the proposed ban on transgender people in the military (News, 4 August); and the halving of refugee resettlement numbers (News, 3 February).

In September, 125 Episcopalian bishops signed a full-page ad in The New York Times, asking the President not to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protected from deportation undocumented immigrants who first came to the United States when they were children — the “Dreamers”. They also filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case challenging the travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries (News, 22 September).

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/10-november/features/features/one-nation-divided-under-god#.WgbsI34CNHo.facebook

A Temple Called Alaska

From The Living Church-

Soon after he became the eighth Bishop of Alaska in 2010, the Rt. Rev. Mark Lattime began lobbying to host one of the semi-annual meetings of the House of Bishops.

A new presiding bishop took office in 2015, and Lattime told TLC how thrilled he was when, “as soon as Michael Curry was elected, not long after that, he said, ‘You know what? We’re going to come to Alaska.’”

About 115 bishops from all corners of the church gathered in Fairbanks Sept. 21-26 to bless the land, visit far-flung churches, and conduct the business of the church. Many brought their spouses.

The twin themes of the meeting were racial reconciliation and the environment, and Lattime told Episcopal News Service that Alaska was the perfect location: “This is your laboratory to experience that and see that.”

More here-

http://htl.li/XAZv30fttaw

Bishops close meeting in Alaska with letter urging ‘prayerful listening’ on race, environment, poverty

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops approved a letter to the church on Sept. 26 invoking the bishops’ experiences in Alaska listening to the stories of the state’s indigenous people, and they called on Episcopalians to join them in working toward environmental and racial justice.
The letter was the capstone of the bishops’ six-day fall meeting, held in Fairbanks but incorporating a weekend of travel far beyond this small city. Across Alaska’s vast Interior, groups of bishops visited Native communities that are struggling to preserve the subsistence way of life they have followed for thousands of years.

The threats to that way of life are many, though Native residents specifically voiced concerns to the bishops about climate change and the impact of the resource-extraction industry.
“The bishops of the Episcopal Church came to Alaska to listen to the Earth and its peoples as an act of prayer, solidarity and witness,” the message. Alluding to Ephesians 2:19,  the message continues, “The residents of Interior Alaska whom we met not strangers; they are members of the same household of faith.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/09/26/episcopal-bishops-close-meeting-in-alaska-with-letter-urging-prayerful-listening-on-race-environment-poverty/

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 6

From Bishop Martins-

No dramatic or particularly compelling photo ops today. What you're looking at here is a fuzzy shot of the Rev. Robert Williams of the United Methodist Church, who flew all the way out from Philadelphia to advocate for the emerging full-communion agreement between the UMC and the Episcopal Church. This matter won't come before General Convention until 2021, but its proponents are doing all they can to get it on everyone's radar.

I'm of a double mind on this. I have a deep personal commitment to ecumenism. Reconciliation and unity are of the essence of the gospel. The way the proposal is being framed is that we are being asked to recognize one another as churches, and hence, one another's members and ministries. There is no assertion that we are to agree on every point of faith and practice. That said, I stumble over the Methodists' use of grape juice rather than wine in the Eucharist. That may seem like a picayunish detail, but it's not, particularly in view of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral's articulation of the use of "the elements ordained by [Christ]" when it lays out the benchmarks for Anglican ecumenical discussions.

More here-

https://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-6.html

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 4

From Dan Martins-

This being the Lord's Day, the morning was dedicated to worship. The visiting bishops and spouses were divided between (read: crammed into) three churches in the greater Fairbanks area. I was part of the group that attended St Matthew's, which was walking distance from the hotel, and which observed its patronal feast day today. The Presiding Bishop preached and the Bishop of Alaska celebrated. We were welcomed with over-the-top hospitality, and the entire occasion was altogether lively.

Shortly thereafter, we boarded buses and rode south and west on the highway toward Anchorage for about an hour, ending up at the village of Nenana, one of the 42 native villages in the interior of Alaska, and among those in which the Episcopal Church has been the major ecclesial presence and influence. There we were treated to a traditional potlatch, as the guests of honor. Feeding a couple of hundred guests in a room (the tribal hall) not designed to accommodate nearly that many was a feat of true logistical legerdemain. We were asked to remain seated--just in chairs, not at tables--while the young people of the community served a multi-course meal, the centerpiece of which was roast moose. (We were told that three animals were harvested for this occasion.) There were speeches galore by all sorts of tribal and ecclesiastical dignitaries, and lots of traditional singing and dancing, to the compelling beat of drums.

More here-

http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-4.html

Bishops visit Alaska, bless land, people

From Fairbanks-

Prayers were offered to bless Alaska, its people and wildlife, Saturday afternoon at the site of the ramshackle gold dredge near Chatanika Lodge.

More than 25 Episcopal bishops, clad in vibrant red chimeres and white rochets, stood in a half moon formation facing the dredge as they recited their prayers. The bishops had come from all corners of the U.S. and their wives were in attendance too.

Among them was Bishop Arthur Williams, of the Ohio Diocese, from Cleveland.

“These days we use the word ‘awesome’ a lot,” Williams said. “I have a deeper understanding of the awesomeness of God and his creations after driving from Anchorage and seeing Denali.”

Williams explained how twice a year the Episcopal bishops gather for missionary work, often going to “far flung” areas of the country. Different groups of bishops also performed blessings in Eagle, Fort Yukon, Venetie, Arctic Village, Beaver, Allakaket and Huslia. 




More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/bishops-visit-alaska-bless-land-people/article_a23692b0-a0fa-11e7-a692-af16be34862e.html

Bishops visit Alaska, bless land, people

From Alaska-

Prayers were offered to bless Alaska, its people and wildlife, Saturday afternoon at the site of the ramshackle gold dredge near Chatanika Lodge.

More than 25 Episcopal bishops, clad in vibrant red chimeres and white rochets, stood in a half moon formation facing the dredge as they recited their prayers. The bishops had come from all corners of the U.S. and their wives were in attendance too.

Among them was Bishop Arthur Williams, of the Ohio Diocese, from Cleveland.

“These days we use the word ‘awesome’ a lot,” Williams said. “I have a deeper understanding of the awesomeness of God and his creations after driving from Anchorage and seeing Denali.”

Williams explained how twice a year the Episcopal bishops gather for missionary work, often going to “far flung” areas of the country. Different groups of bishops also performed blessings in Eagle, Fort Yukon, Venetie, Arctic Village, Beaver, Allakaket and Huslia. 

More here-

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/bishops-visit-alaska-bless-land-people/article_a23692b0-a0fa-11e7-a692-af16be34862e.html

2017 Fall House of Bishops, Day 3

From Bishop Martins-

Here's the lovely Lady Brenda, along with Alaska's own Bishop Mark Lattime, boarding our principal mode of transportation today. It took us, along with the Presiding Bishop and his right-hand man Canon Michael Hunn, the Bishop of Wyoming and his wife, and the Bishop of Vermont and his wife, to the village of Fort Yukon, a little more than an hour north from Fairbanks by air (and well inside the Arctic Circle). This was but one piece of a large "apostolic progression" of bishops into several communities in the interior of Alaska. (Bishop Lattime, by the way, travels this way all the time; most of the places he visits can't be driven to.)

A word about the history of Christianity in Alaska is in order. The gospel was first brought to this part of the world by Russian Orthodox missionaries in the eighteenth century. But they tended to concentrate on the coastal areas and not pay much attention to the interior. It was other mainline churches--generally Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Anglican--that were hugely successful in evangelizing the native peoples of the interior in the nineteenth century. But since, in that era, churches were expected to take responsibility for hospitals and schools, the churches prudently decided not to compete with one another, and divvied up the territory. The sprawling plain known as the Yukon Flats became an Episcopalian enclave.

More here-

http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-fall-house-of-bishops-day-3.html

House of Bishops, Alaska, Day 1 and 2

From The Bishop of Olympia-

I arrived in Fairbanks on an Alaska flight from Seattle filled with bishops and other support staff headed for our meeting in Alaska.  We were all warmly welcomed in Fairbanks by Bishop Mark Lattime and by members of the diocese.  The first night was mostly about getting settled in and resting.  That was easier for me this time considering Alaska is basically in our neighborhood and this is most often not the case.

Thursday we met with several of the elders of the Athabascan people and heard presentations about culture in Alaska.  The Presiding Bishop was gifted with a beaver skin miter and then the visiting elder reminded him, and us, that it is customary to dance after receiving a gift.  Our PB did not miss a beat!

More here-

https://bishoprickel.wordpress.com/2017/09/23/house-of-bishops-alaska-day-1-and-2/