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A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality Is Changing the Episcopal Church

by Caroline J. Hall
Rowman & Littlefield. 2013. 328p. notes. bibliog. ISBN 9781442219946. $38; ebk. ISBN 9781442219960. REL
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Hall (VP, Inter-Anglican Affairs, Integrity), an Episcopal priest with a parish in California, analyzes why homosexuality has become a divisive issue for the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Looking back over the last half-century, she reveals loss of church membership, decline in American global prestige, cultural polarization and scapegoating, and the rise of the Moral Majority in response to 1960s upheavals as potent factors escalating the conflict into other provinces of the global Anglican Communion. Not only did churches and entire dioceses leave the Episcopal Church, but entire provinces tried to have other provinces censured or even removed from the communion over attitudes toward local jurisdiction of bishops and primates and the ordination of openly gay bishops.
VERDICT An informative, clear, and enlighteningly objective treatment of escalating religious and political dissension over the issue of same-gendered sexual expression; highly recommended for religious, political, and sociological professionals and laity interested in these topics, which resonate in other religions and nations as well.
Reviewed by Carolyn Craft, emerita, Longwood Univ., Farmville, VA , Nov 07, 2014
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