JESUS GATHERS HIS CHILDREN : REACTIONS FROM AROUND THE COMMUNION

Bishop John Howe of Florida:

I think there has been a better sense of collegiality than we have experienced for a long time.

Susan Russell (Priest):

"This was a huge step that the American church was not willing to go back into the closet about its inclusion of gay and lesbian people in order to capitulate to those who would exclude us...."

Michael Hopkins (Priest): A Day for Humble Thanks: I slept well last night for ther first time in weeks...

Elizabeth Kaeton (Priest): ...a simple, clear, strong statement that this is who we understand ourselves to be as a family of God, and that we are willing to stand by all of the members in our family.

Father Jake Stops the World: Thank God! It is a good day to be an Episcopalian!

Father John (Priest): The bishops show themselves to be a mature, adult, self-differentiated body with the savvy to push back the anxiety thrust upon them by the Primates.

Richard (Caught by the Light) Priest: I am almost speechless....This raises a serious question for many, from the Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria, to the Primate of the Southern Cone, to the Archbishop of Canterbury. . .Do you really want to aid and abet one of the worst aspects of Western culture: the severing of relationship when the going gets tough -- the real threat to our unity in Christ?

Click above title for today's article by New York Times on the Bishop's Meeting.

and mine:

Antiakinolaestablishmentarianism? OR I'M NOT SURE I CAN DO THIS
Goodbye, Anglican Home (a song from the wrong side of the Atlantic)

you were home of Shakespeare and Chaucer

the rubrics I learned but never had to write down

you were the ancient graves near the Thames

the lofty Cathedral where little boys sang

Tallis, Tavener, Durufl, Ives, Purcell

nearby Whitehall, Trafalgar, and Ludgate Hill

messages from the ABC I sometimes read

at nights before I went to bed

the Sunday services, those at Christmas Eve

the processions with princes and Queens in their grief

you were the tiny brass crucifix

and the smell of incense, in thurible mixed

you were the balcony with pipes of all sizes

liturgy spoken in well cadenced phrases

post-wedding pictures, baptismal cries

fragrant altar flowers, and smiling eyes

you were the coffee, the tea, and the cakes

the wooden seats that made young hips ache

an awkward hug at the passing of the peace

the momentary innocence of confessional release

a man for all seasons standing in his time

preparations, a prayer book, both bread and wine

always the questions, rarely demanding an answer

the poetry of psalms, the liturgical dancer

the raising of prayers for those hurt, lost and alone

for a friend in need, or on their way home

the candles extinguished as the service ends

a moment of silent kneeling and matters to mend

my place of second birth, my spiritual door

now you're the dream we lived before