A Personal Note from The Witness' Editor
Editor Sarah Dylan Breuer writes to The Witness' readers.
[posted 12/9/06]
A New Beginning -- and an End
With a sense of joy in all that has been accomplished in The Witness' nearly 90 years of publication, its board announces that it will cease publication.
[posted 12/9/06]
Justice for "the Least of These," Salvation for All
Dr. Karen A. Keely examines nineteenth-century freed slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass' use of the Gospel lesson for Pentecost 27 (November 20, 2005), bringing to light ways in which feeding the poor, comforting those who mourn, and striving for freedom for those enslaved is Good News of salvation for all -- the oppressor and the passively complicit bystander as well as the oppressed.
[posted 11/13/05]
Katharine Jefferts Schori Takes Office on a Wing and a Prayer
Sarah Dylan Breuer draws from an interview with the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori as well as experience of serving alongside her in two church bodies for an in-depth profile of the 26th Presiding Bishop and some personal predictions of what the church might expect in her tenure.
[posted 11/10/06]
Still Hoping for an Honest Broker
Samia Khoury offers observations on discouraging developments in Palestine following the elections that swept Hamas to victory -- and her unwavering hope that the U.S. will learn from its failed Middle East policy and become an honest broker for peace in the region.
[posted 11/21/06]
Foley's Folly and Republican Lust for Power
Some have blamed the Republican Party's poor showing in midterm elections on the personal immorality of Rep. Mark Foley, ignoring, as Irene Monrie points out, the ways in which Foley's misconduct is symptomatic of a much deeper disease of the body politic: the lust for power overriding all other considerations.
[posted 11/12/06]
Seeing God's Mercy
Gawain de Leeuw reflects on the readings for Proper 25 (B), challenging us to see God and God's mercy anew.
[posted 10/26/06]
Safe to Serve
Carin Ruff confronts the buffeting whirwind of God's rhetorical questions in Job and the gentler challenge of Jesus' words in our readings for Proper 24 (B) (October 22, 2006) to wrestle with the demands of discipleship.
[posted 10/18/06]
What Does Our Discipleship Cost?
Kris Lewis reflects on the readings for Proper 23 (B) (October 15, 2006), seeing in Jesus' exchange with the rich man a profound challenge to us to reflect on what we hold dear that we could let go for the sake of God's kingdom.
[posted 10/13/06]
The Voice of a Teacher
Fredrica Harris Thompsett delivered this eulogy for the memorial Eucharist in celebration of the life and ministry of Verna Dozier (1917-2006) at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill.
[posted 10/6/06]
Carrying Each Other as One
In Jesus' words from the readings for Proper 22 (B) (October 8, 2006), Sarah Dylan Breuer sees echoes of the rock band U2's song "One" ("We're one/but we're not the same/we get to carry each other ...") -- and a word to us potentially as liberating as it is challenging.
[posted 10/5/06]
"There shall be no coercion in matters of faith."
Some Muslim extremists have ignored the context of the Pope's Sept. 12th comments about faith and reason (and Islamic jihad); unfortunately, so have his most ardent defenders. Neil Elliott finds a good deal of self-righteous extremism all around, and calls on people of good will -- whether or not they are people of faith -- to put the extremists in their place.
[posted 10/6/06]
Diocese of San Joaquin Proposes Constitutional Amendments to Secede from The Episcopal Church
On September 28, charges of "[abandoment] of the Communion of this Church" against Bishop John-David Schofield of the Diocese of San Joaquin were dismissed. Today, on October 1, the Diocese of San Joaquin announced that they were considering amendments to their diocesan constitution and canons that would remove all reference to the diocese acceding to the Constitution of The Episcopal Church and acknowledgement of its canons, with the intention, "with appropriate consultation (eg [sic] Archbishop of Canterbury/Primates of the Anglican Communion) to transfer all relationship and communion from ECUSA to an Anglican Province to be determined at a Special Convention called by the Bishop of San Joaquin," according to statements on the diocese's website.
[posted 10/2/06]
Religion Is Dangerous: Handle with Care
Louie Crew reflects on the lectionary readings for Proper 21 (B) (October 1, 2006), finding in them a stern warning against spiritual pride and inhospitality to God's children.
[posted 9/28/06]
Verna Dozier's Witness Testimony
Verna J. Dozier, a powerful prophet, preacher, teacher, evangelist, writer, and lay leader of the church, died on September 1. Her witness to us remains in the writing that she left, including the collection presented here of Dozier's articles for and interviews in The Witness.
[posted 9/23/06]
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