Church and Gay News

California Diocese Lays Groundwork
to Secede from Episcopal Church

A battle is brewing in the Episcopal Church over the Diocese of San Joaquin, California, U.S.A., which is poised to be the first diocese to secede and position itself as the "vanguard" of a new U.S. branch of Anglicanism.
Home to an estimated 10,000 Episcopalians, the diocese will vote on amendments that would remove all ties to the national church at its convention Dec. 1-2. San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield said the 2.2-million member Episcopal Church is "preaching and practicing heresy" with its progressive approach to homosexuality and the Bible.
In a letter to parishioners, Schofield said his diocese would remain part of the global Anglican Communion but remove itself from the Episcopal Church, its U.S. branch.
New Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori stepped forcefully into the fray Monday (Nov. 20), warning Schofield not to secede.
But leaving is necessary, Schofield said, because the Episcopal Church "denies the unique divinity of Jesus Christ ... and takes a position on human sexuality which undercuts marriage and is destructive to the family unit designed by God and revealed in Scripture."
In 2003, while bishop of Nevada, Jefferts Schori and 61 other bishops voted to approve an openly gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. For that reason, and because they object to her gender or progressive views, seven dioceses - including San Joaquin - have asked to be put under the guidance of a foreign bishop instead. San Joaquin is one of three U.S. dioceses that do not ordain women.

Pastor Loses Anti-Gay Protest Suit

The civil rights of pastor Ralph Ovadal were not violated when police ordered him and his followers from a highway overpass in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, where they were protesting against gays, a federal appeals court has ruled. Hanging a large banner proclaiming "homosexuality is a sin" from the bridge, Ovadal and his followers yelled homophobic slurs.
The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago, upheld a lower court ruling that agreed with police that the protest was a distraction to motorists and posed a hazard.

Pope, Anglican Leader:
Gays 'Serious Obstacle' To Unity

Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams acknowledged Thursday that there were "serious obstacles" on the path to closer ties between Catholics and Anglicans, reflecting tensions over Anglicans' blessings of same-sex unions and steps to ordain female bishops.
The leaders of the two churches, in a joint statement issued after 25 minutes of private talks, said they said they were committing themselves to continuing dialogue. The two men then prayed together in a chapel in the Apostolic palace.

South Africa Court Grants
Gay Inheritance Rights

The formerly violently conservative and racist South Africa is now a beacon in the otherwise gay-unfriendly African continent.
With only a week before South Africa's Parliament must pass equal marriage rights for same-sex couples the country's highest court has delivered another landmark gay ruling.
The Constitutional Court in a unanimous ruling Thursday said that same-sex partners are entitled to inherit the estates of their partner even if that person did not have a will.

Where's Dad?
Gay NY Man's Shocking Find

This story actually has nothing to do neither with Christianity nor homosexuality as such, but is shocking in itself. How far will the world go?
People with weak stomachs click at their own risk.