Almost four years ago, the Spy took an interest in the special challenges facing the Episcopal Church. The Spy did so because those challenges highlighted in very local terms the social changes that faced the country at the time, including the blessing of same sex relationships and the relevancy of Christianity with a quickly growing secular population.
As a consequence of this interest, the Spy sponsored a forum in the fall of 2009 to discuss the state of the Church with the rectors of Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot Counties. As our coverage clearly shows, the Episcopal Church, at least locally, was still very much in transition.
Now we return to this complex issue of spiritual and cultural change with some of the original panelists to see how our local churches are moving forward with this extraordinary transition.
We begin this occasional series with the Rev. Dan Gross of the Emmanuel Church in Chestertown. Rector Gross talks about Emmanuel’s special appeal for newcomers, its ability to remain relevant with unprecedented growth in the volunteer hours and commitment of his current congregation, and the slow and careful acceptance of gay clergy and and gay relationships within the Church.
The video is approximately five minutes in length
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