Our story begins with a liturgy entitled \u201cA Women\u2019s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine,\u201d posted among the online offerings of the Episcopal Church Office of Women\u2019s Ministries.<\/p>\n\n
Digital sleuths easily connected this rite to Tuatha de Brighid, a \u201cClan of modern Druids.\u201d Then before insiders could say \u201cEpiscopagans,\u201d critics found links between its use of milk, honey and raisin cakes and Asherah, Astarte and rituals banned in the biblical book of Hosea.<\/p>\n\n
As a rule, rites connected to Baal are frowned on in Christian churches.<\/p>\n\n
The Internet trail led to the Rev. William Melnyk and his wife, the Rev. Glyn Ruppe-Melnyk, in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. In Druid circles, he is \u201cOakwyse\u201d and she is \u201cGlispa.\u201d Soon, Pennsylvania Bishop Charles E. Bennison, Jr., agreed to discipline the Melnyks \u2014 who publicly repented.<\/p>\n\n
It was crucial to avoid a \u201cwhere there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire\u201d response, the bishop told the media. \u201cI will not allow this situation to turn into a witch-hunt of any sort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
A bishop does not, after all, have to hunt witches when he has already found his druids.<\/p>\n\n
However, the priest previously known as \u201cOakwyse\u201d is now the druid formerly known as a priest. In a recent online post, Melnyk has withdrawn his letter of repentance and resigned from the priesthood. Those seeking Druidic rites and weddings may visit www.oakwyse.org for details.<\/p>\n\n
For the life of me, I cannot understand why some people think religion news is boring. Year after year, I mark this column\u2019s anniversary \u2014 this is No. 17 \u2014 by rounding up strange bits and pieces that didn\u2019t fit anywhere else during the previous 12 months. <\/p>\n\n
Believe me, I would never dare to make this stuff up.<\/p>\n\n
* Alabama radio preacher Paul Morehead is pushing the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) condom. Thus, this quotation: \u201cWhen a young man and a young woman give in to Satan, when they strip down like animals in the wild and prepare themselves for a lusty round of heavy petting and full-blown sex, what better reminder for them to buck up than a WWJD condom with the image of our Lord and Savior right there on the package?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* The most amazing faith quote of the 2004 White House race was on the left, when Sen. John Edwards said: \u201cIf we can do the work that we can do in this country \u2014 the work we will do when John Kerry is president \u2014 people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk. Get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* Charleston, S.C., church sign: \u201cStop, Drop and Roll Does Not Work in Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* In the year of the \u201cvalues voters,\u201d I am amazed that no one chased the religion angle in the ABC News poll that said 56 percent of Republicans were \u201cvery satisfied\u201d with their sex lives, compared with 47 percent of Democrats. Who has worn \u201csomething sexy\u201d to bed? That would be Republicans, 72 percent, and Democrats, 62 percent.<\/p>\n\n
* Someone at Time magazine needs a dictionary. Its recent list of the 25 most influential Evangelical Protestants in America included Father Richard John Neuhaus and Sen. Rick Santorum \u2014 who are Roman Catholics.<\/p>\n\n
* How tough is life on the Jewish dating scene? It seems that MarryBlaire.com is still in business.<\/p>\n\n
* Here\u2019s evidence that there is a God: Microsoft\u2019s Bill Gates receives 4 million pieces of e-mail per day \u2014 most of it spam.<\/p>\n\n
* Amen! Four Catholic parishes in Monterrey, Mexico, have installed Israeli-made electronic devices that jam cell telephones.<\/p>\n\n
* Note to President Bush: You know that pro-Texas \u201chook \u2019em, \u2018horns\u201d gesture you do by raising the pinky and index fingers on your right hand? Apparently that has another meaning in Norway \u2014 it\u2019s a salute to Satan.<\/p>\n\n
* I thought this was an urban legend, but wire service reports indicate that the Rev. Jack Arnold, 69, really did collapse and die at a suburban Orlando Presbyterian church, immediately after saying the words, \u201cAnd when I go to heaven. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* During CNN\u2019s coverage before the pope\u2019s death, Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete said that he told Pope John Paul II that he had agreed to speak to the network about the pontiff when he died. The pope replied: \u201cHow do they know I\u2019m going first?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our story begins with a liturgy entitled \u201cA Women\u2019s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine,\u201d posted among the online offerings of the Episcopal Church Office of Women\u2019s Ministries. Digital sleuths easily connected this rite to Tuatha de Brighid, a \u201cClan of modern Druids.\u201d Then before insiders could say \u201cEpiscopagans,\u201d critics found links between its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[329,720,779,869],"class_list":["post-1329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-episcopal-church","tag-religion-news","tag-scripps-howard","tag-tmatt"],"yoast_head":"\n