In This Issue
A
great many people in the Church already have read the Statement About
Gender and Clergy by the Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith, which came out of
a long process and study by the General Church Clergy on ordination. The
decision, supported by a strong majority of the clergy, is to continue the policy
of male-only ordination. We are publishing the statement on page 504 for
anyone who has not seen it, and also as an important part of the historic record
of the Church. It includes a brief preface and addendum from the Bishop, not
previously published. See also an editorial – Gender and the Church – on what
this decision means to the Church and to each of us as we seek to be led by the
Lord. (Page 497)
There has been a great deal of response to the Bishop’s Statement in the
social media. We include two letters to Bishop Keith and Bishop Peter M. Buss
Jr., from Michelle Chapin and Kristin Coffin Daum, which express the feelings
of many women and young people. (Page 514) We will be happy to publish
additional responses as part of the historic record of the Church, and ask only
that they be as charitable in tone as these two, and as brief as possible.
The Thanksgiving celebration occurred in Canada on October 13, and is
observed in the United States on November 27, but the Word commands all
people to be thankful to the Lord for the harvest of blessings in our lives. The
Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Jr. offers a perspective based on the continual flow of the
Lord’s mercy into our lives: His Mercy Endures Forever. (Page 519)
In the New Church we are more inclined to use the name “Lord” than
“Jesus,” but in a Christmas sermon the Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith talks about the
importance of The Name ‘Jesus.’ “Even as we rightly say ‘Lord,’” he writes, “we
should not forget to also use ‘Jesus.’ It directs our thoughts to the Divine nature
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It reminds us that He was not born as others, but of
a virgin and with a Divine Soul.” (Page 521)
Does anything last forever? That is the question the Rev. Dr. Thane P. Glenn
asked in his Charter Day Cathedral address, His Covenant Forever: All Things
New. He noted that the stone in the pillars of the cathedral eventually will
crumble but that what is forever – especially in our own lives and to eternity –
is the Lord always