Covenant Number 29, October 2008

Sidetracked by a Morality of Works

by Tom Woodward

In the church as in life, how easily we get sidetracked. Nowhere is that more evident than with our current struggles within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion.

In Uncertain Times

by RWC

Like many of us, I am watching the stock market in free fall. I am also aware of the effects of unemployment and the foreclosure crisis in the parish where I serve. Athens County is in the heart of Appalachian Ohio and is one of the poorest counties in Ohio. The economy is as bad here as anywhere, except maybe for parts of Michigan, our neighbor to the north, or of West Virginia (far nearer to this part of the state, and in fact closer to our house than Columbus).

Different from Before

by William Hethcock

Most of us learned early in our careers as Episcopalians that ours is not a "covenant church." What we take that to mean is that apart from the creeds we are not bound by a set of doctrines or disciplines to which we commit ourselves when we are baptized or confirmed.

Lambeth: the Generosity of Death and New Life

by Elizabeth Kaeton

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy of reality far, far away, I was once a labor-delivery room nurse. My shift was characterized by long periods of anticipation and boredom punctuated by intense moments of activity.

The Dynamic of Lambeth

by Katie Sherrod

Plenty of folks have analyzed what happened at Lambeth. I've done it myself on my blog. But even as I wrote that analysis I was nagged by the knowledge that I was missing something important, something key to understanding the dynamic of Lambeth. I've finally got it.

A Review

by G. Richard Wheatcroft

"James P Carse, The Religious Case Against Belief, The Penguin Press, Hardcover, 2008, 240 pp, $24.95"

Recently, a number of books have been published making the atheist case against religious belief. Now, here is a book making a religious case against belief.

Apoplexy and Deposition

by Elizabeth Kaeton

I don't understand the apoplexy around the anticipated deposition of Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh. Without looking at the report of the Task Force or the letter from the Presiding Bishop and without breaking a sweat, here's what I know about the actions of the Bishop of Pittsburgh...

The Mail

Marsha Williams 1948 - 2008

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. -- Robert Frost

Let all of us, brothers, consider the Good Shepherd Who bore the suffering of the cross to save His sheep.

The Lord's sheep followed Him in tribulation and persecution, in shame and hunger, in weakness and temptation, and in other ways; and for these things they received eternal life from the Lord.

Therefore, it is a great shame for us, the servants of God, that the saints have accomplished great things and we want only to receive glory and honor by recounting them.

ÑFrancis of Assisi, Admonition 6 in Armstrong, Hellman, and Short, eds. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. I, (New York: New City Press, 1999), p. 131.