Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Jim McGreevey, priest?


Should McGreevey become an Episcopal priest?

Well, why not? Will the Episcopal Church admit him as a candidate? They have accepted him as a member of the Church:

The former governor, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew. (Newsday.com, AP New Jersey)

McGreevey has entered the church's "discernment" phase that usually precedes any seminary work, Bean told The Star-Ledger of Newark in a report posted Wednesday on its Web site.

This is where the Episcopal Church stands on homosexuality and ordaining gay priests: (Wikipedia)

The ordination of homosexuals and the practice of blessing same-sex unions within some dioceses has caused criticism by many within TEC and in the greater Anglican Communion. There are a variety of practices within the Anglican Communion.

The Church of England considers a celibate person of homosexual orientation to be eligible for ordination, even if the person has entered into a civil same-sex partnership, noting "The Church should not collude with the present assumptions of society that all close relationships necessarily include sexual activity."[ House of Bishops issues Pastoral Statement on Civil Partnerships, July 2005, paragraph 20.]

According to the Windsor Report of the Anglican Communion, the 2003 consecration of The Right Reverend Gene Robinson, an openly gay man living in a committed relationship, was a landmark event for those on both sides of the issue.

There's a lot more to the position of the Episcopal church and the Anglican Communion but it seems that McGreevey is on his way. It is between him and his God what happened between himself and his wife and children. It's my guess he'll have to make amends before he is ordained.

I wish him the best.

theteach

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