{"id":6176,"date":"2004-04-30T10:36:19","date_gmt":"2004-04-30T17:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/04\/30\/why-yes-this-is-my-church.html"},"modified":"2009-05-04T09:31:51","modified_gmt":"2009-05-04T15:31:51","slug":"why_yes_this_is-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/04\/30\/why_yes_this_is-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Why, yes, this is <\/i>my church"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been in the know on this <\/a>for a couple of weeks, but didn’t blog about it here because — well, it’s likely to be getting all too much press and other coverage over the next weeks\/months.<\/p>\n

And to that end, I’ll decline to go into backstory of the sort that would be liable to end up being quoted somewhere in the press should this site be stumbled upon by someone. It’s not secret stuff, by any means, but in a brouhaha like this, stuff happens.<\/p>\n

Same-sex event at church has conservatives seeking answers<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually, plenty of folks seeking “answers” on this. But there are indeed some folks who are seeking answers they can use to further an end.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a same-sex blessing – but it was close enough that conservative Episcopalians are demanding to know from Bishop Rob O’Neill what happened last weekend at the Good Shepherd parish in Centennial.
\nA church official confirmed Thursday that the parish hosted a same-sex celebration in honor of Bonnie Spencer, an assistant pastor at the church, and her partner.
\nSpencer said she would have no comment until she spoke to O’Neill, who is out of town until next week. She added, however, that “there was no same-sex blessing.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That is, in fact, in keeping with the information I have (and have every reason to believe). And saying that the “parish hosted” the celebration is perhaps overstating matters. The couple, and two witnesses each, were allowed use of the sanctuary on a Saturday, with the permission of the rector. No others were present.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Lou Blanchard, who is the overseer of the region that includes the parish, said she was informed as “a matter of common courtesy” of the celebration.
\n“They had a party celebrating their relationship,” Blanchard said. Since she did not attend, Blanchard said she didn’t know what form the celebration took, or whether a spiritual ceremony was involved.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In point of fact, to avoid appearances of a formal church blessing, clergy were specifically instructed not to attend the event. Which, for something involving a priest, is greatly unfortunate.<\/p>\n

Blanchard said that several months ago O’Neill denied the couple permission to perform a same-sex blessing. The bishop could not be reached for comment.
\nSame-sex blessings have been approved by the Episcopal Church USA, a move that has outraged conservatives in the denomination. While he supports same-sex issues, O’Neill promised conservatives he would not even consider moving ahead on developing such liturgies until after he had been in office six months. He took office in January.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Actually, the General Convention did not “approve” same-sex blessings, but acknowledged that they have been occuring, declined to condemn them, and continued to leave the matter as a “local option” to bishops while the church strives to reach consensus on the matter.<\/p>\n

As a buzz began to build this week over what happened at Good Shepherd, a number of letters were sent to O’Neill asking exactly what happened at the 800-member parish, according to the Rev. Ephraim Radner, a writer, theologian and pastor of the Ascension parish in Pueblo.
\n“People are all wondering what’s going on,” Radner said.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps they should have asked the principles — Bonnie, or the parish rector, rather than just “wondering” aloud.<\/p>\n

Speaking only as a parishioner, from my understanding of the events and the people involved, I don’t believe anything wrong or improper have occured — and, in fact, that this should be a time of joy and celebration for the couple involved. I suspect that some folk, however, will have a differing opinion, and that some will make it a fairly ugly mess.<\/p>\n

And that’s probably all <\/i>I should say at the moment, at least in this <\/i>venue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been in the know on this for a couple of weeks, but didn’t blog about it here because — well, it’s likely to be getting all too much press…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[64,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion-episcopal-church","category-religion-my-parish"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10411,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/24\/dont_beat_around_the_bush.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":0},"title":"Don’t beat around the bush, Jean, tell us what you really think …","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 24-Jan-07 6:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"... about the goings-on in the Episcopal Church in general and the Diocese of Colorado in particular. Because I can't quite get a sense of where you're coming from when...","rel":"","context":"In "Fourth Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Fourth Estate","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/fourth-estate"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11042,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/04\/19\/all_your_parish_are_belon.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":1},"title":"“All your parish are belong to us!”","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 19-Apr-07 6:40am","format":false,"excerpt":"Look out! \u00a0Dave's ranting about Episcopal stuff some more! As part of the effort to secede Grace & St Stephen's from the Episcopal Church, Rev Armstrong has been walking...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/episc-shield.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11168,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/03\/26\/secession.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":2},"title":"Secession","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 26-Mar-07 10:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Grace and St Stephen's, the largest parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado (after the Cathedral) has voted (in its vestry) to secede from the diocese. At the same time,...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4494,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/08\/20\/ctj.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":3},"title":"CTJ","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 20-Aug-03 10:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So we had an open discussion meeting tonight down at the church, to talk about the Episcopal Church's decision to approve Gene Robinson as bishop, and it's resolution on same-sex...","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6739,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/10\/ecclesiastical.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":4},"title":"Ecclesiastical blue books","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 10-Jan-05 11:22pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We're doing evaluation of answers to written questions from folks in the search process for our new rector. We're down to ten candidates, as we've decided some folks don't fit,...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13172,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/07\/04\/r_e_s_p_e_c_t_4.html","url_meta":{"origin":6176,"position":5},"title":"R-E-S-P-E-C-T","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 4-Jul-08 10:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Y'know, if there are folks who have theological disagreements with me, and with my church and religion and denomination, I'm okay with that. 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