Content about Politics

Breaking -- Parish will ask court for a rehearing.

The Bishop of Los Angeles had no authority to give the parish of St James in Newport Beach a written waiver exempting the congregation’s property from the reach of the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon, an Orange County Superior Court Judge has held. In a ruling for summary judgment handed down on 1 May 2013 Judge Kim Dunning ordered the parish to hand its multi-million dollar properties over to the Diocese of Los Angeles.

Letter from Dr. John Yates to The Falls Church of 18 April 2013.

The Christian community in Egypt right now is mourning and feels challenged in their own country, as some of them have said, “we have been here since the time of the Pharaohs, this is our country! We will not leave whatever happens

For more than a thousand years this country has to one degree or another sought to recognise that Jesus is the Son of God; by the ordering of its society, by its laws, by its sense of community. Sometimes we have done better, sometimes worse. When we do better we make space for our own courage to be liberated, for God to act among us and for human beings to flourish. Slaves were freed, Factory Acts passed, and the NHS and social care established through Christ-liberated courage. The present challenges of environment and economy, of human development and global poverty, can only be faced with extraordinary courage.

“As a result of the process of Conciliation under Canon IV.10 of The Episcopal Church, the…Complainants and Respondents agree to this Accord on terms which promote healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, justice, amendment of life and reconciliation,” begins the Accord, which was signed by all parties in March 2013.

The First Judicial Circuit Court in South Carolina has issued a Temporary Restraining Order forbidding any “individual, organization, association or entity” from using the name, symbols or seal of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina – save for Bishop Mark J. Lawrence and the trustees of the diocese.

The 23 January 2013 order handed down by Judge Diane Goodstein effectively blocks the Episcopal Church and its allies from electing a bishop and standing committee for the minority faction loyal to the national church for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

A tentative settlement has been reached in the “Fort Worth 7”  and “Quincy 3” cases, sources close to the proceedings report.  Details of the agreement will not been released until all parties endorse the agreement, the sources report, but the disposition of the dispute is being characterized as “amicable” AI has learned.

If the agreement is ratified, the settlement will conclude the largest mass disciplinary proceeding launched against bishops of the Episcopal Church. 

The Diocese of South Carolina, the Trustees of the Diocese and congregations representing the vast majority of its baptized members today filed suit in South Carolina Circuit Court against The Episcopal Church to protect the Diocese’s real and personal property and that of its parishes.

The suit also asks the court to prevent The Episcopal Church from infringing on the protected marks of the Diocese, including its seal and its historical names, and to prevent the church from assuming the Diocese’s identity, which was established long before The Episcopal Church’s creation.

The Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde reports the former suffragan Bishop of Washington, the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon died in her sleep during the night of December 24/25.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has called a special convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina for 26 January 2013 to elect a provisional bishop.

On 8 Dec 2012 the “steering committee” of South Carolina, a group of lay and clergy members of the diocese loyal to the national church announced that Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori would “convene” the gathering at Grace Church in Charleston.

A Federal District Court in California has issued an injunction blocking implementation of SB 1172 – a law which would prohibit licensed therapists from counseling minors who wish to change their sexual orientation.

In a decision hailed as a victory for religious liberty and free speech, on 3 Dec 2012, District Court Judge William Shubb held the law was unconstitutional.