You are My Beloved

Sermon preached at churches in La Marque and Alvin Texas. 2 Sunday after the Epiphany Year B. Baptism of Our Lord.

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Statement From Presiding Bishop Curry

From Presiding Bishop Curry:

"Many of us have committed ourselves and our church to being 'a house of prayer for all people,' as the Bible says, when all are truly welcome," Curry said in remarks he later made available to Episcopal News Service.

"Our commitment to be an inclusive church is not based on a social theory or capitulation to the ways of the culture, but on our belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a sign of the very love of God reaching out to us all. While I understand that many disagree with us, our decision regarding marriage is based on the belief that the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians are true for the church today: All who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ."

"For so many who are committed to following Jesus in the way of love and being a church that lives that love, this decision will bring real pain," he said. "For fellow disciples of Jesus in our church who are gay or lesbian, this will bring more pain. For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope. And this will add pain on top of pain."

Curry told the primates that he was in no sense comparing his own pain to theirs, but "I stand before you as your brother. I stand before you as a descendant of African slaves, stolen from their native land, enslaved in a bitter bondage, and then even after emancipation, segregated and excluded in church and society. And this conjures that up again, and brings pain.

"The pain for many will be real. But God is greater than anything. I love Jesus and I love the church. I am a Christian in the Anglican way. And like you, as we have said in this meeting, I am committed to 'walking together' with you as fellow primates in the Anglican family."

The Rt Rev C Andrew Doyle
Episcopal Diocese of Texas

Primates 2016 Statement

The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Canterbury this week,released a statement today about the continuing relationship between The Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church. You can read the document  online.

I am profoundly grateful that the Primates want to continue to walk together as communion and participate in communion globally. Because of the strain that decisions made by The Episcopal Church regarding marriage have caused in some areas of the Communion (like Africa and the Global South), some Primates have requested that The Episcopal Church be prevented from certain work of the Communion for the next three years. Early reporting provides enough detail about the nature of this removal or any particular parameters Primates may have required unclear. The document released January 14 "requires" that The Episcopal Church "no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies" and "should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee."

The expectation seems to be that The Episcopal Church will continue to participate "in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion" without the ability to take part "in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity" for a period of three years. 

The Primates can require such things of their own body and so, this would mean that our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, would not be allowed to sit on the Primate's Standing Committee, or take part on any ecumenical or interfaith bodies with whom the Primates are working. Bishop Curry would also not be able to work with the Primates on any matters of doctrine and polity they may be considering currently. 

While the Primates may ask this for their own body, as one of the instruments of the Anglican Communion, it does not make the same automatically true for the Anglican Consultative Council, a second of the four instruments of the Anglican Communion. That Council will have to make its own decisions according to its bylaws and constitution.

I would speculate that that member churches will move to formalize a similar requirement at the upcoming Anglican Consultative Council meeting, which included both clergy and lay members of the Church.

Our unity in living out the Gospel and representing the best that we can be to the broader, and decidedly secular, world is a priority. Our ministry to seek justice and respect the dignity of every human being is also a priority. I await further clarity from the Primates and continue to pray for our Presiding Bishop, our Archbishop and the rest of the Primates as they gather. 

The Rt Rev C Andrew Doyle

Episcopal Diocese of Texas

Turn Turn Turn

Advent 3 C brings us to the banks of the Jordan river. What are you looking for? What answers do you seek? And, are you willing to hear them if you don't like them?

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There is a Voice Crying in the Wilderness

Sermon preached on Advent 2C 

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