All posts tagged: first things

An Episcopal seminary found a solution to its fiscal woes. Then 7 bishops intervened.

An Episcopal seminary found a solution to its fiscal woes. Then 7 bishops intervened.

 (RNS) — A plan to save a troubled historic Episcopal seminary in New York has come under fire after seven bishops registered their opposition to offering a long-term lease of the seminary to a nonprofit with alleged ties to a Catholic music school funded by a conservative donor.  The bishops, who lead Episcopal dioceses in New York and Long Island, issued a statement last month objecting that the School of Sacred Music, which is negotiating to sign a long-term lease with General Episcopal Seminary in New York, has ties to a donor that does not support rights for gay, transgender and queer people. “We are concerned by the lack of full acceptance of the LGBTQ stance of its founders and the lack of transparency in its funding,” the bishops said, according to Episcopal News Service, an official church publication. Founded in 1817, General, the Episcopal Church’s oldest and once most prominent school for training clergy, has, like many mainline Protestant seminaries, fallen on hard times in recent years. In the past fiscal year, it ran …

Shawn Fain’s Old-Time Religion – The Atlantic

Shawn Fain’s Old-Time Religion – The Atlantic

There’s something sermonic about the speeches of Shawn Fain, the president of the currently striking United Auto Workers. Since autoworkers began targeted work stoppages following the expiration of their contract on September 15, Fain has regularly addressed the public—and his message has a uniquely moral cast. “I’ve been without,” he told me last month. “I’ve been on unemployment and been on government aid to get formula and diapers for my firstborn child. I mean, that’s when, to me, I leaned on my faith and leaned on God and turned to scripture for answers.” In a speech delivered in September, Fain, who has been the president of UAW for only a few months, explained that he’d decided to seek the union presidency not only out of practical motives, but also because of his deep faith. “One of the first things I do every day when I get up is I crack open my devotional for a daily reading, and I pray. Earlier this week, I was struck by the daily reading, which seemed to speak directly …