I ran across this archive of NPR stories called Housing First when researching a question for a family member. As we’ve been discussing some issues of affordable housing and the homeless, I thought I’d make a note of it here.
Pastor doesn’t shy from call | Chicago Tribune
For Rev. Bonnie Perry, the unpredictable pastor of Chicago’s fastest-growing Episcopal congregation, the opportunity to become bishop of California is not about stirring controversy. It is about answering a call.
But as one of three openly gay candidates who could be selected for the job Saturday–there are seven nominees in all–Perry, 44, stands at the edge of a global controversy threatening to split her church.
Church leaders in Africa and South America have severed ties with the Anglican Communion since their American counterpart, the Episcopal Church, consecrated a gay bishop, New Hampshire’s V. Gene Robinson, in 2003.
Some American bishops also have disavowed the Episcopal Church, saying it abandoned them when it condoned the sin of homosexuality. U.S. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold says focusing on a candidate’s sexual orientation is the sin.
Representatives of clergy and laity in the Diocese of California will vote to select their bishop, and delegates of the Episcopal General Convention must approve the winner in June.
However, the results of the election are in, and Rt. Rev. Mark Andrus has been elected as Bishop of California.
A commenter in an Episcopal blog I read had an opportunity to go on something called “walkabouts” with the nominees, and thought Andrus was a “stunner.”
Congratulations to the people of the Episcopal Diocese of California for conducting a successful election!
UPDATE: Here is an eyewitness account of the election process, which we in the Diocese of Chicago will be undergoing in a year or so. It was prayerful, purposeful, and joyful.
Tomorrow night the first evening distribution of food will take place at Holy Innocents from 6pm to 730pm. This evening distribution is to fill a need that we see, where the Schaumburg Food Pantry is not open after 5pm weekdays.
If successful, and if the need is there, we will be evaluating whether additional evening distributions can take place.
Our heartfelt thanks go to our neighbors a few blocks to the south, and a few blocks to the north, whose generous donations of groceries made our supplemental food pantry possible. Our thanks also to Trader Joe’s in Arlington Heights, who donated a large number of their heavy-duty shopping bags for our food drive.
Bags are packed to try to provide 2 meal options per bag, for either families or single persons. Also some bags are packed with food items that don’t require much in the way of cooking facilities, for those families and singles who might be living in cars, or living shelter to shelter. One bag (possibly two bags depending on demand) will be given out per household.
As this program is just beginning, we’re starting small, but hope to expand it in the months and years to come.