Roman Catholic & Lutheran interaction: “grass roots ecumenism”

LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, assisted by General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, presents Pope Benedict XVI with a gift from Bethlehem depicting the Last Supper. Second from left is Vatican employee Francesco Cavaliere. Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation recently met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.  Before considering the report of [...]

Call to Action: progressive Catholics hold a convention

Along with a couple thousand others, I spent the weekend in Milwaukee attending the annual convention of Call to Action (CTA), a beleaguered group of progressive Roman Catholics.  The conservative retrenchment of the Vatican and the American bishops marches on, and one wonders what the future holds for Catholic progressives.  I met hundreds of interesting [...]

Minnesota Progressive Catholics

Catholic Coalition for Church Reform Australian born Michael Bayly is a leading spokesman for the local (Minnesota) gay Christian community.  He serves as the executive coordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM), the editor of The Progressive Catholic Voice, and co-chair of the Minnesota-based Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR).  Earlier this [...]

Of human bondage

What motivates us as human beings?  Why do we do what we do? I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. I see in my members another law at war [...]

Now it’s the Presbyterian’s turn

The Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA) is commonly labeled “mainline Protestant”.  According to Wikipedia, the attribution “mainline Protestant” suggests the following: Mainline or mainline Protestant (also sometimes called mainstream) denominations are those that comprised the vast majority of American Christianity from the colonial era until the early 1900s. Most were brought to America by their respective [...]

Today is the day: ELCA rosters gay clergy

From the moment they called the question and the resolution passed by a 55-45% majority at last August’s ELCA churchwide assembly, Lutherans knew that partnered gay clergy would soon become rostered on the list of ELCA ordained clergy. Today is the day. A visible sign of the wondrous changes in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in [...]

The UCC and gay ordination: thirty-eight years and counting

I have been and will continue to be a cheerleader for my beloved ELCA, and I will defend with pride her courageous decision last summer to include our LGBT brothers and sisters in ordained ministry and to offer blessing of their relationships.  I have also blogged extensively about the parallel Episcopal efforts to include “all [...]

Roman Catholic female ordination

Call to Action is the largest group of progressive Catholics with roots in the liberalizing reforms of Vatican II, originally sanctioned by the American Council of Bishops, but which became an outsider organization as conservative retrenchment set in during the papacy of John Paul II. Pope John Paul II repeatedly dashed hopes for any internal [...]

Prop 8 trial reveals abuses of reparative therapy

If you haven’t heard, a civil trial is underway in California contesting the constitutionality of Prop 8.  If you don’t know about Prop 8, it was a California referendum that passed by a slight majority in the 2008 election, and its effect was to preclude same gender marriage in California. This is a much ballyhooed [...]

Gun sights for Jesus

Howard Friedman is Professor of Law Emeritus at Toledo University, and he publishes a blog about the intersection of law and religion.  His blog is named Religion Clause, and the blog’s byline is the first amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… –US Const., Amend. [...]