Date: May 19th 2008

My latest blog post is “Realignment Reconsidered.” It provides some background to the release today of a new document from Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (PEP) by the same name. My post explains how the document came to be and suggests how PEP reviews material it plans to release. “Realignment Reconsidered” (the handout, not the blog post) takes the document from the Diocese of Pittsburgh titled “Frequently Asked Questions About Realignment” and pairs the answers with answers from PEP. “FAQ” is intended to shore up support for Bishop Duncan’s plan to remove the diocese from The Episcopal Church and “realign” it with another Anglican province, likely the Southern Cone. As you might imagine, our answers and those of the diocese are, shall we say, divergent. See for yourself.

Anyway, I am the principal author of “Realignment Reconsidered,” and I believe it to be both a helpful and an important contribution. Even if you are not in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, you really need to read the answers from the diocese to believe them, and you should know that loyal Episcopalians are working diligently to counter such disinformation.

My blog post can be found at http://deimel.org/commentary/blogger/2008/05/realignment-reconsidered.htm. It includes links to both the PEP press release and to the new 16-page document. You can also read the PEP story on the new document at http://progressiveepiscopalians.org/html/reconsidered2008-05-19.html, which contains the same two links as the blog post.

Coincidentally, the Rev. Dr. Harold Lewis, rector of Calvary Church in Pittsburgh wrote an essay called “Realignment: The Unvarnished Truth” for his parish’s May 18th newsletter, Agape. “The Unvarnished Truth” takes an approach similar to PEP’s. Dr. Lewis addresses only a few of the diocese’s 30 questions, but he is somewhat more outspoken in addressing them. Your can read his piece at http://progressiveepiscopalians.org/html/2008-05-18ruminations.pdf.

If you also received a copy of the PEP press release today, let me apologize for inundating with e-mail. We really do want to get this message out.

Best regards,
Lionel
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