Episcopal JOURNALMONTHLY EDITION | $3.75 PER COPY VOL. 9 NO. 4 | APRIL 2019 HE IS RISEN! Same-sex spouses not invited to Lambeth Conference By Mary Frances Schjonberg Fearon wrote. “That is the position as set Episcopal News Service out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lam- 3 beth Conference. Given this, it would be Church of England service honors rchbishop of Canterbury Justin inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be female priests Welby is not inviting same-sex invited to the conference.” NEWS spouses to the 2020 Lambeth The Lambeth Conference is held AConference of bishops. approximately once per decade. The Public word of Welby’s decision came archbishop of Canterbury invites bishops in an Anglican Communion News Service from across the Anglican Communion to blog post by Anglican Communion Sec- attend. The last gathering was in 2008. retary General Josiah Idowu-Fearon. He The July 23-Aug 2, 2020, gathering will wrote that “invitations have been sent to be held, as is tradition, in Canterbury, every active bishop” because “that is how continued on page 6 it should be — we are recognizing that all those 12 consecrated into the of- Three artists fice of bishop should be TS cite Abraham as able to attend.” Those R faiths’ patriarch invitations traditionally A come from the archbish- op of Canterbury. Photo/via Wikimedia Commons “But the invitation An intimate Easter moment process has also needed This image of “The Risen Christ” (1658) by Rembrandt to take account of the van Rijn, a portrait of the resurrected Jesus, emphasizes Anglican Communion’s a personal relationship with the figure at the center position on marriage of Christianity’s key moment. Rembrandt painted which is that it is the Photo/Anglican Archives a number of Passion scenes, including the raising of lifelong union of a man Spouses who attended the 2008 Lambeth Conference of bishops the cross, Christ’s descent from the cross and Christ’s and a woman,” Idowu- pose on the University of Kent campus in Canterbury. 16 entombment. Cuban church to re-join Episcopal Church Episcopalians, Methodists ponder full-communion proposal NEWS By Mary Frances Schjonberg and David Paulsen The dialogue committee is due to gather Plan,” which did not change the UMC’s posi- Episcopal News Service again in a previously scheduled meeting April tion on the full inclusion of LGBTQ people 29 in Austin, Texas, during which, Rose said, in the life of the denomination but hardened RG. E O G he United Methodist Church’s recent Episcopalians “will hear directly from those some of the its current policies. A T D I #1239 S decision to reinforce its opposi- For instance, it set a minimum penalty IT O M PA tion to same-sex marriage and the of one year’s suspension without pay for -PROFIT R N US P Bellmawr NJ PE ordination of LGBTQ clergy has clergy performing a same-sex wedding for NO T not sidetracked pending consideration of the first offense, and loss of credentials a full-communion agreement between the for the second, according to UM News Episcopal Church and the United Meth- Service. And the plan reinforced the odist Church. church’s existing prohibition on “self- Each denomination is discerning the avowed practicing” gay clergy. vote’s impact as the Methodist church The delegates rejected plans that would awaits a denominational ruling on the have either eliminated all restrictions on constitutionality of some parts of the de- same-sex marriage and ordination of gay cision. clergy in the denomination’s Book of Dis- “At this moment, we are in the same cipline or left such decisions up to indi- place that we were six months ago, except Photo/Paul Jeffrey/UM News Service vidual geographic entities known as con- that we are deep in prayer for their situa- Delegate Shayla Jordan receives hugs after speaking in ferences. tion,” the Rev. Margaret Rose, ecumenical support of the One Church Plan during the 2019 United The Special Session also approved a and interreligious deputy to the Episcopal Methodist General Conference. disaffiliation plan, sometimes called an Church’s presiding bishop, told ENS. “exit plan.” It would allow congregations Six months ago, the United Methodist- who have been deeply involved in this work to leave the denomination with their property, Episcopal dialogue committee made final edits and are saddened by the decision.” with limitations, “for reasons of conscience” to the full-communion proposal, “A Gift to On Feb. 26, the United Methodist Church’s regarding issues of human sexuality. The plan’s the World: Co-Laborers in the Healing of Bro- 2019 Special Session of General Conference provisions would stand in contrast to the Epis- kenness,” that was first released in May 2017. approved, by a vote of 438-384, a “Traditional continued on page 7 2 EPISCOPAL JOURNAL April 2019 CONVERSATIONS What are you giving up for Lent? By Tara Isabella Burton though hard numbers are diffi- ject to God. This practitioner Religion News Service cult to find, abundant anecdotal is precisely trying to focus less evidence supports the idea that a on the self, not more. IF You’re A practic- solid minority of those who ob- In giving up chocolate, say, ing Christian — and serve Lent belong to the ranks of or alcohol or sex (or even my likely if you’re not — the religiously unaffiliated. planned abstention: social you’re familiar with the A few years ago, Monica Potts media), we’re not necessar- exhortation to give up wrote in “The Case for Secular ily focusing on self-denial so something for the tra- Lent,” on Talking Points Memo, much as self-improvement. ditional season of peni- “I know tons of people who We’re stealth-dieting, giv- tence. The season commemorates the aren’t observant Christians but ing ourselves another oppor- period leading up to Christ’s passion and who nevertheless participate in tunity to be better (and, if resurrection, and for the approximately some kind of targeted fast for the we’re thinner, fresher-faced 1 in 4 Americans who observe it, Lent religious holiday meant to evoke and more productive to boot, is a time of sacrifice, prayer, fasting and Jesus’ 40 days and nights wan- then so be it). Photo/Derrick Brutel/Creative Commons reflection. dering through the wilderness.” Glasses with fresh organic vegetable and fruit juices as part of While Lent is by no means But, increasingly, the popular concept Potts, an avowedly “nonre- a detox diet. Many people opt to make healthier diet decisions as secularized as, say, Christ- of Lent has been transformed into a kind ligious” person, argues that her during Lent, rather than simply abstaining from certain things. mas or Easter, it’s worth of vaguely theistic detox. It’s a chance own regular Lenten observance thinking about the way in not to give up earthly pleasures but to is a vital part of her meditative which the Lenten season has exorcise toxins. practice. “We all need a time and increasingly become, as the An article published last year in U.K. space for quiet reflection,” she Rev. Giles Fraser, the journal- tabloid The Express, by way of example, writes, “to consider what con- ist and priest in the Church provides readers with a handy list of the nects us, and to wish each other of England, put it in a 2014 health benefits of giving up some of the well. From ‘peace be with you’ to article for The Guardian, “a most popular fasting targets, such as ‘namaste,’ there’s a universal de- second go at the new year smoking or chocolate, before remind- sire to pull ourselves out of the resolutions that ran into the ing them of the upsides of giving up sex. everyday and set our intentions sand somewhere in mid-Jan- “Abstaining over Lent might help you for a better life.” Lent, she wrote, uary.” reconnect with your partner in other is “a way to consider what gave Are we using a season ways,” the article reads, before adding: me real pleasure.” designed for contemplation “However, you might be tempted to But is reflection all Lent is Photo/Adrianne Bonafede/The Bay City Times of the holy to alleviate our break this when you hear how many about? What does it mean to Diners fill their plates with a variety of fried fish at the Knights of own insecurities about our calories sex burns.” divorce the personal benefits of Columbus Lenten fish fry in Bay City, Mich. bodies, our work ethic, our Modern Lent has come to have more Lenten observance — even the personal health? And if so, is in common with Dry January — the spiritually attuned goals of increased ticular Lenten fast who sees the disci- it time, as we’ve done with Christmas, to viral sensation encouraging New Year’s mindfulness, a better life — from their pline as necessary for a kind of surrender take stock of what the “true meaning” of resolvers to give up alcohol for a month divine referent? If we are not fasting to to God’s will, rather than a triumph of Lent really is? n — than with its ecclesiastic antecedents. love God, but rather to optimize our self-control. No wonder that it’s not just the faith- own existence, are we not risking trans- “For the first time I was using the Tara Isabella Burton holds a doctorate ful who are getting in on the Lenten forming a season of penitence into one (fast) day to find God’s will for my life,” in theology from Oxford University and action.