Americans United Condemns Religious Right Plot to Politicize Pulpits

A Religious Right group’s plan to ask churches to violate federal tax law on electioneering is deplorable, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is urging clergy to defy the tax-law ban on candidate endorsements by tax-exempt groups. Ministers are being pushed to use their pulpits on Sept. 28 to preach about candidates and spark a showdown.

The ADF, a theocracy-minded legal operation founded by right-wing religious broadcasters, hopes the Internal Revenue Service will launch investigations of these churches, thus opening the door to a federal test case of the constitutionality of the law.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “This is a truly deplorable scheme. Federal tax law rightly requires churches and other tax-exempt groups to use their resources for religious and charitable purposes, not partisan politics. When the faithful put their hard-earned dollars in the collection plate, they don’t expect it to wind up pushing some politician’s campaign.

“The Religious Right leaders who lust for political power in America will apparently stop at nothing, not even the sacred character of the church,” Lynn continued. “The vast majority of clergy do not seek to turn their incense-filled sanctuaries into smoke-filled political backrooms.

“I think very few clergy will yield to the Alliance Defense Fund’s worldly temptation,” Lynn concluded. “And those who do will find their churches’ tax exemptions in jeopardy. I assume the ADF will provide a list of congregations unwise enough to join this move, and we’ll be ready to report those churches to the IRS.”

Lynn noted that clergy know they are free to speak out on religious, moral and political issues. But they cannot use tax-exempt resources to support or oppose candidates for public office, which includes statements from the pulpit by church officials and other indications of campaign intervention.

In May of 2000, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously held that the IRS properly revoked the tax exemption of the Church at Pierce Creek, a congregation near Binghamton, N.Y., that bought newspaper ads in 1992 opposing presidential candidate Bill Clinton. (Americans United filed a complaint with the IRS about this clear violation of tax law.)

The court ruled in Branch Ministries v. Rossotti that “the revocation of the Church’s tax-exempt status neither violated the Constitution nor exceeded the IRS’s statutory authority.” (The three judges were Reagan appointees, and the opinion was written by James Buckley, a scion of the ultra-conservative Buckley family and brother of William F. Buckley.)

Americans United has served as a monitor of the intersection of religion and politics. In response to church politicization efforts, the watchdog group has distributed informational literature to religious leaders about federal tax law. In 80 cases since 1996, Americans United has asked the IRS to investigate apparent electioneering violations of the IRS Code by religious groups.

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Conservative bishops head for Lambeth

Church Times, 09 May 2008-05-09 IT IS becoming clear that the conservative case is going to be well represented at the forthcoming Lambeth Conference in Canterbury. At least two conservative bishops have confirmed that they will be attending, with the express purpose of promoting their cause.

One is the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, the Most Revd Greg Venables. He told The Times that he would attend both the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in June and the Lambeth Conference in July. Bishop Venables has been censured in recent weeks for ministering to congregations in Canada and San Joaquin, in the US, without the permission of the Anglican leadership in those provinces, and in contravention of the Windsor process. He told The Times: “It is clear the division is pretty final. Dialogue is the one thing that is lacking. I don’t think we are going to change people’s minds, but I think it would be wrong for us to get to a point where we acknowledge a division and try to organise it without being together and talking about it.”

The other conservative who has announced his intention to travel to Canterbury is the Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt Revd Jack Iker. He said last week: “I stand in solidarity with all those bishops who have decided, as a matter of conscience, that they are unable to be at Lambeth. However, given the situation the diocese of Fort Worth finds itself in with the unfolding realignment that is taking place in Anglicanism, I think it is important for me to be there to make our case and to face our detractors.”

It is also understood that the Bishop of Pittsburgh, the Rt Revd Robert Duncan, also plans to be at Lambeth for at least part of the Conference. The Bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt Revd Gene Robinson, reported last week that he would be unable to preach during his July visit to coincide with the Conference. Although there is no legal bar to his preaching, Bishop Robinson received a letter from the Archbishop’s office asking him not to. He says that he will do nothing to defy Dr Williams.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US, Dr Katharine Jefferts Schori, told a congregation in Dallas that the official church blessing of same-sex relationships would “certainly happen in our lifetimes”. She reported that the 2009 General Convention is likely reconsider the present moratorium.

In the mean time, the conservative Anglican Communion Institute has argued that Dr Jefferts Schori is liable to presentment because of what it says are her violations of the Church’s canons. In her attempts to depose three conservatives, Bishops Cox, Schofield, and Duncan, she had failed to observe the correct procedure, it says. For example, she did not gain consent from a majority in the House of Bishops for the deposition of Bishop Cox.

 

Despite death threats, gay bishop plans civil union

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson knows he is inviting death threats by entering into a civil union with his gay partner on the eve of his church’s biggest ecclesiastical conference. And he says it is worth it, because he is doing what God asks of him.

“When your life is at stake, you learn that there are things in life that are much worse than death,” Bishop Robinson told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Thursday in New York. “That’s the great reward of being a Christian. Not living your life — that’s worse than death. And if something were to happen to me, I would know that I am doing what I discern God is calling me to do.”

In 2003, Robinson became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church when he was elected by the congregations of New Hampshire. Dubbed “the most controversial Christian in the world,” he faced death threats then and wore a bulletproof vest during his consecration. Now, he has announced that he will “marry” Mark Andrew, his partner of some 20 years, a move sure to outrage conservatives in his religion.

 Despite death threats, gay bishop plans civil union
MSNBC 

Gay bishop plans to marry
May 8: Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, speaks with TODAY's Matt Lauer about his plans to enter into a civil union with his partner of 20 years.

Gay group reaches out to Lakewood ... Joel Osteen remains silent, but Soulforce presses on with Saturday's picnic in Houston

Meet the families taking part in the American Family Outing

Find out how your family can participate!

 

The son of evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker Messner will spend his first Mother's Day weekend since her death in Houston, waiting to hear from Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen.

Jay Bakker, a high-profile supporter of Soulforce — a group that fights religious and political oppression of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders — wants Osteen to join the nontraditional families at a picnic Saturday and welcome them to church on Sunday.

As the tattooed and pierced Bakker spoke at a Soulforce news conference Wednesday, it was clear his mother was in his thoughts. Though she died of cancer last July, she remains a near-legend in the LGBT community.

"I want to celebrate my mother's life," said Bakker, pastor of Revolution New York City, "and help spread the message she lived and preached. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as 'us' and 'them.' We hope the families of Lakewood Church will open their hearts and minds to us and sit down and have a conversation and share a meal. ... Let's put our differences aside and share the love and hope of Christ."

Osteen has been largely silent on LGBT issues.

But for Bakker, "That's as destructive as speaking out against the LGBT community."

 Gay group reaches out to Lakewood
Houston Chronicle, United States

GAY EPISCOPAL PRIEST HONORED BY LAMBDA FOUNDATION

Gay Episcopal priest, Malcolm Boyd, author of newly released Samuel Joseph for President: Media, Politics, Religion, Race  (KenArnoldBooks), and best-seller, Are You Running With Me, Jesus?, will receive a Pioneer Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation in Los Angeles on May 29, 2008. His partner, Mark Thompson, will also be honored for his writings on gay spirituality. Boyd and Thompson were the first gay couple whose union was blessed by a sitting bishop in the Episcopal Church.

The first openly gay Episcopal priest, author of 29 books, freedom rider, civil rights and antiwar activist, 85-year-old Boyd continues to serve as a priest in the Episcopal Church. He came out as gay thirty-five years before the controversial election of Gene Robinson as a gay Episcopal bishop, and has been steadfast as an advocate for social justice ever since. Lambda is honoring him as an author and gay activist.  See GAY EPISCOPAL PRIEST HONORED BY LAMBDA FOUNDATION

Rift deeper than gay unions

Pat Decker nearly fell off her chair when she heard a representative from the Anglican Church of Canada call controversial filmmaker Michael Moore a modern-day prophet at a baptism three years ago.

"To compare Michael Moore to prophets like Isaiah and Elijah and Jeremiah, I just could not believe what was happening," said Decker.

She says it's an example of how she feels the national church has taken the Bible and turned it into an "everyday" book.

Decker is a member of Church of the Good Shepherd in St. Catharines, one of three churches that recently broke from the Anglican Diocese of Niagara claiming the Diocese is veering from core Anglican doctrine. The church, like 14 other Anglican parishes across the country, has instead joined the Anglican Network in Canada.

Although public perception is the rift stems from disagreement over the blessing of same-sex marriages, those siding with the network say it's more than that.

"Same-sex blessing is just a symptom of much deeper core theological issues," said Marilyn Jacobson, communications officer with the network.

 Rift deeper than gay unions
Hamilton Spectator, Canada 

The Anglican Diocese of Niagara pleased with Court decision

 Hamilton, Ontario - - - The Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of Niagara today responded to the decision of the Ontario

Superior Court of Justice. Madam Justice Jane A. Milanetti found that three Anglican parishes, St. Hilda’s

in Oakville and St. George’s in Lowville, and The Church of the Good Shepherd, St. Catharine’s should be

shared by both the departing congregants and the members loyal to The Diocese of Niagara. The Diocese

was pleased in the decision, and is now anxious to move forward.

Spokesperson for the Diocese, Archdeacon Michael D. Patterson, stated: “We are obviously very pleased

with the decision, Madame Justice Milanetti accepted our proposal for sharing and joint administration as a

logical interim solution. We feel that we were completely justified in resorting to the courts after

negotiations failed. We can now provide ministry for loyal members of the Diocese and move forward to

safeguard the physical heritage of the Churches, which were built by and have served generations of

Anglicans.”

Members of the Diocese indicated that they are still anxious to pursue constructive dialogue with those in

the Church who have taken a different view throughout this matter. Said Patterson, “There has always been

room for a range of views within the Church. We seek unity, not uniformity. We wish to ensure dialogue

continues in the hopes that the resolution of this matter will be acceptable to all.”

Patterson further addressed the issue of ministering to all those in the affected parishes, “We will continue

to minister to the whole faith community, to ensure that no one is abandoned, even those who may have

taken a different view throughout this matter. This should be the most important goal for all of us.”

The Synod of the Diocese of Niagara’s mission is to ensure that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is accessible and

proclaimed to all people by ensuring vibrant and healthy faith communities. The Diocese of Niagara, one of

thirty dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada, was formed in 1875.

 

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uhanda to Preach Sunday @ San Francisco's Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo is preaching  Sunday at:

The Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist
1661 Fifteenth Street
San Francisco, CA  94103-3511

Bishop Senyonjo is the retired bishop of Western Buganda in the Anglican Province of Uganda, and is Integrity Uganda's chaplain.

 

After the service the Bishop will present a forum on Integrity Uganda. Please try to join us in welcoming  Bishop Senyonjo to the Bay Area.

Vatican lends hand to Williams in battle to shore up Anglican unity

The Vatican has come to the aid of Rowan Williams, the head of the Anglican church, ahead of this year's Lambeth conference.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury arrived in Rome yesterday for a private meeting with the Pope, it was announced that Cardinal Ivan Dias, the Indian prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, would be among the speakers at this summer's event, which brings Anglican bishops together in London once every 10 years.

Rebel bishops, angry at Williams's acceptance of gay bishops, plan a breakaway conference in Jordan and Jerusalem, threatening the break-up of the Anglican Communion.

Dias has been touted as a possible future candidate for the papacy. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, may also attend the Lambeth event.

"We expect someone from the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity to attend, as we have in the past," said a spokesman for the Anglican Communion office in London.

 See Vatican lends hand to Williams in battle to shore up Anglican unity
guardian.co.uk, UK -

Church leaves diocese, assets in gay debate

A former pastor and his congregation, who personally paid for land, the building of their church in Cloudcroft and its furnishings, have lost it all to the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, based in Albuquerque.

While the former congregation of the Church of the Ascension feels they were somewhat wronged by the diocese, the canon, or church law, is written to legally retain all tangible assets with the national Episcopal Church. Under the church law, the national church allows each individual church to hold property as stewards of its diocese.

The issue, a divisive movement within the Episcopal Church on a national level, surrounds church views on homosexuality.

Pastor Fred Griffin, minister to the congregation at Cloudcroft for the past four years, said the movement actually began in the 1960s. …

St. Clements and Trinity churches were parishes. Under canon law, the assets of those churches belong to the local church.

Griffin said the assets he and his congregation lost, which total approximately $200,000, are a lost cause. An additional loss was a $40,000 pool fund which the diocese froze, all of which had been originally given by the congregation.

"There is no point in fighting it," he said. "We would lose any attempted litigation. But we think we are in a very happy place now."

The Sunday following their last service in their former church, Griffin continued his congregation's worship in the church at the Sacramento Mountains Historical Society and Pioneer Village in Cloudcroft.

 

 Church leaves diocese, assets in gay debate
Alamogordo Daily News, NM 

Evangelicals Say Faith Is Now Too Political

Evangelicals Say Faith Is Now Too Political
(Washington) Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

 

Bishop urges gays to walk into faith storms

By Deb Price

Ironically, we can feel the most spiritually alive when we're being battered by life's fiercest storms.

For Gene Robinson, such storms have struck twice:

First, when he could no longer deny his homosexuality and divorced his beloved wife. And now, as the Anglican Communion battles over the place of gay people, a struggle that intensified in 2003 when he was consecrated as the nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop.

In the inspiring "In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God," the New Hampshire bishop tells what he's learned about himself as a gay Christian and the role he feels called to play in the world's third-largest Christian denomination.

"I am hopelessly in love with the church. It feeds and sustains me," he told me. "I am committed to helping change it from the inside, holding my head up high."

Robinson believes an engaged God -- not a God "who dusted his hands off and walked away into the sunset"-- is challenging the church to embrace those of us who're gay, just as it was challenged over earlier injustices.

He points to what Jesus told his disciples on the night before his death: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:12-13).

Robinson believes, "We are literally seeing that (promise fulfilled) now.

"The changes we've seen in our understanding of the Scripture over the 19 centuries since it was written have happened through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.... Things that seemed simply 'the way of the world'-- like slavery, polygamy and the lower status of women -- in retrospect seem like examples of humankind's flawed, limited and mistaken understanding of God's will. Our ability to better understand God's will has improved with time, prayer and reflection."

Robinson's book is being released as he prepares to step back into the spotlight: In June, he and his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew, will be joined in a New Hampshire civil union, followed by a blessing at their church.

In July, despite not being invited to the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference of bishops in England, Robinson will go in unofficially to give wary bishops "a chance to sit with a self-affirming gay person of faith," he says.

The events, he says, are linked: He wants to ensure his partner has legal rights under the civil union law because "it's potentially dangerous" for Robinson to attend the conference. (He wore a bullet-proof vest at his consecration.)

Because religion is often entwined with anti-gay attitudes, he believes "it's going to take religious people to undo that thinking and believing."

Gay-friendly allies aren't enough. Robinson urges gays who've left their place of worship to return, come out and walk into the storm: "Instead of giving up on our religious communities, let's think about taking the risks and bearing the burdens of transforming them."

Bishop Robinson's courageous life demonstrates the spiritual rewards of refusing to run for cover if your conscience tells you that you mustn't flee the storm.

Reach Deb Price at (202) 662-8736 or dprice@detnews.com.

 

Bishop urges gays to walk into faith storms
DetNews.com, MI 

Is Liberal Catholicism Dead?

He may not have been thinking about it at the time, but Pope Benedict, in the course of his recent U.S. visit may have dealt a knockout blow to the liberal American Catholicism that has challenged Rome since the early 1960s. He did so by speaking frankly and forcefully of his "deep shame" during his meeting with victims of the Church's sex-abuse scandal. By demonstrating that he "gets" this most visceral of issues, the pontiff may have successfully mollified a good many alienated believers — and in the process, neutralized the last great rallying point for what was once a feisty and optimistic style of progressivism.

The liberal rebellion in American Catholicism has dogged Benedict and his predecessors since the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. "Vatican II," which overhauled much of Catholic teaching and ritual, had a revolutionary impact on the Church as a whole. It enabled people to hear the Mass in their own languages; embraced the principle of religious freedom; rejected anti-semitism; and permitted Catholic scholars to grapple with modernity.

But Vatican II meant even more to a generation of devout but restless young people in the U.S. rather than a course correction, Terrence Tilley, now head of the Fordham University's theology department, wrote recently, his generation perceived "an interruption of history, a divine typhoon that left only the keel and structure of the church unchanged." They discerned in the Council a call to greater church democracy, and an assertion of individual conscience that could stand up to the authority of even the Pope. So, they battled the Vatican’s birth-control ban, its rejection of female priests and insistence on celibacy, and its authoritarianism.

Rome pushed back, and the ensuing struggle defined a movement, whose icons included peace activist Fr. Daniel Berrigan, feminist Sister Joan Chittister, and sociologist/author Fr. Andrew Greeley. Its perspectives were covered in The National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal and America. Martin Sheen held down Hollywood, and the movement even boasted its own cheesy singing act: the St. Louis Jesuits. The reformers' premier membership organization was Call to Action, but their influence was felt at the highest reaches of the American Church, as sympathetic American bishops passed left-leaning statements on nuclear weapons and economic justice. Remarks Tilley, "For a couple of generations, progressivism was an [important] way to be Catholic."

Then he adds, "But I think the end of an era is here."

 

Is Liberal Catholicism Dead?