Single expectant mothers and divorcees involved in a relationship (and their partners) need not apply. -- Episcopalian faith oath causes rift in Ga..

Episcopalians who want to attend an upcoming conference in Savannah will be asked to sign a faith oath before entering, a requirement that has split Episcopalians across South Georgia.

To attend in the conference, called "Reclaiming the Faith, Rebuilding the House of God," churchgoers will have to sign a statement on faith written by the American Anglican Council, a national orthodox church group.

Among other things, the pledge includes accepting "unchanging biblical revelation," acceptance of the sanctity of life "from conception to natural death" and, for all single people, a vow of "abstinence from sexual intercourse." The pledge is called "A Place To Stand."

Some clergymen around South Georgia complain the pledge is meant to squash dissent. Anglicans worldwide have been divided over whether homosexuals should be ordained or whether same-sex blessings should be performed in the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Chris Schuller, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Jesup, angrily called it "a purity pledge."

Schuller called it "very, very Baptist," adding its principles "are designed to tell other people how to live." Asked by the Savannah Morning News if he would sign it, Schuller responded, "Oh my goodness, no."

The Rev. J. Lloyd Angus, rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Savannah, was also critical of the pledge.

"Some people, like impetuous children, want everything their way," Angus said. The groups holding the conference don't appear to understand the "progressive nature of Anglicanism," said Angus, who wasn't planning to attend the conference.

And the Rev. James B. Shumard, rector of St. Francis of the Islands Episcopal Church, said conference organizers repeatedly said they won't let anyone come who doesn't sign the pledge.

"It seems to me if they want to get their message out, they would open parts of the conference to all," Shumard said "The Episcopal Church has a tradition of being known for being open to all."

The rector of the church organizing the conference, the Rev. Marcus Robertson of Christ Church in Savannah, said some Savannah-area ministers angrily told him they didn't like the pledge or the way the conference was promoted.

"Some people were calling for my head," Robertson said.
Robertson said the conference will be "a safe place where there's not going to be debate or fights."

Robertson recently stepped down from his position as dean of the Diocese of Georgia's Savannah convocation, a group of 13 Savannah-area ministers who meet about once a month.

Robertson said his resignation wasn't caused by any "furor" over the upcoming conference but because he was too busy to lead the meetings.

(10-10-04 AP article.)
_______________

Please don't conclude from the title of this post that I am male sexist. I just don't know what a male divorced man is called, if anything, other than a male divorced man. If a divorced woman is a divorcee, does that make a divorced man a divorcor?

In legal mumbo jumbo if this were the case, the male being the divorcor would be the one doing the divorcing, and the woman as the divorcee, the one being being divorced, as in lessor/lessee, mortgagor/mortgagee, etc.

Live and learn. I learned a new one the other day as told by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (it was in the 10-3-04 N.Y. Times). I sure wish I had saved it, and if you have it, please send it to me. But it went something like this.

An unrepresented man was in court listening to what was being said about him by the other side, and the judge asked him if he had anything to say.

The man replied: Your Honor, not only do I resent the allegation, I resent the allegator.