She Will Not Be Alone
The Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris, the first woman to become bishop in the Anglican Communion, offers her perspective on the election of the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as 26th Presiding Bishop, on the challenges facing her, and on her support from colleagues.  [posted 6/30/06]

Murders of Church Workers Belies Concordat Excitement
On June 19, 2006, international church leaders witnessed Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold signing a partnership agreement with the Philippine Independent Church. Few knew that mere hours earlier two Filipino church activists had been brutally murdered -- part of a long list of unknown human rights workers slain in recent months.  [posted 6/28/06]

Honor God: Say No to Torture
With increasing global attention to torture, including in U.S. prisons like Guantánamo Bay, activists named June as "Torture Awareness Month." As the Episcopal General Convention closed, several human rights topics lay unattended -- but as Ethan Vesely-Flad reports, local congregations can still make a difference.  [posted 6/27/06]

An Open Letter to my LGBT Brothers and Sisters
Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire writes to LGBT Christians about what did and did not happen at General Convention 2006, and about where we go from here.  [posted 6/24/06]

"Peace! Be Still!": Marching Orders from General Convention
A stormy week at General Convention left many Episcopalians feeling queasy -- not unlike the disciples in Mark's story of the "Stilling of the Storm," the Gospel for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (B) (June 25, 2006). Neil Elliott examines the rhetoric of "Christlike renunciation" and "sacrifice" offered as a rationale for Resolution B033 (on Election of Bishops), and finds it wanting.  [posted 6/24/06]

Press Release from Lambeth Palace
The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued a press release in response to the actions of General Convention 2006.  [posted 6/21/06]

RESOLUTION ON ELECTION OF BISHOPS PASSES BOTH HOUSES
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold made use today of a privilege of his office to call a joint session of bishops and deputies, at which he urged them to adopt a resolution the Rt. Rev. Dorsey Henderson, co-chair of the Special Committee, is proposing -- Resolution B033. It has passed the House of Bishops, and now has passed the House of Deputies.  [posted 6/21/06]

Faces of General Convention: The Laudermilks of Amish Fudge
As the Exhibit Hall closes on the day before GC ends, The Witness concludes its "Faces of Convention" series with a look at Wanda and Sondra Laudermilk, who have been purveyors of fudge to General Convention-goers for 34 years now.  [posted 6/20/06]

GC RESOLUTION ON MORATORIA DEFEATED DECISIVELY IN DEPUTIES
General Convention Resolution A161 -- which, as amended by the Special Committee meeting during convention, included language urging the church to refrain from electing or consecrating bishops whose "manner of life poses a challenge to the wider church" and bishops and GC2006 to refrain from authorizing official rites for blessing same-sex couples -- has gone down to decisive defeat in the House of Deputies. [Update: June 20, 8:05 p.m.]  [posted 6/20/06]

GC Legislation News Roundup -- 6/20/06
With two days remaining in General Convention 2006, The Witness provides an update of approved and pending legislation.  [posted 6/20/06]

Say It With Flowers, Not Nails
Too much testimony in the House of Deputies today suggested that we should not amend resolutions from the Special Committee in view of how hard they worked on them. Sarah Dylan Breuer suggests that we might better send flowers to thank them and make central the more important questions -- such as how our actions proclaim the Good News of Christ crucified and risen.  [posted 6/20/06]

Human Authority and God's Freedom
God can speak from the whirlwind or calm the storm, but God won't be calling us back to Egypt ever again; nor will he make the times ahead of us easy. But in truth, the breath of God's Spirit will always be moving forward. The Rt. Rev. John Chane sees in our readings for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (B) (June 25, 2006) a timely reminder for an eventful General Convention.  [posted 6/19/06]

Jefferts Schori becomes Presiding Bishop-Elect in Historic GC Election
The Witness provides coverage of the election itself, of Jeffert Schori's vision for her ministry and the church, and of responses thus far to the election.  [posted 6/19/06]

The "Compromise" That Isn't
Bishop Peter James Lee of Virginia has proposed a "compromise" resolution responding to the Windsor Report on the election and consecration of bishops that isn't a compromise -- nor does it respond to the central concerns of the Windsor Report. Sarah Dylan Breuer argues that the committee -- or barring that, the bishops and deputies on the floor of GC's legislative houses -- can do much better than that.  [posted 6/19/06]

THE RT. REV. KATHARINE JEFFERTS SCHORI TO BE THE 26th PRESIDING BISHOP
On the fifth ballot, the House of Bishops has elected the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The House of Deputies in a vote by orders has passed Resolution E017, "The Election of the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop."  [posted 6/18/06]