And the marriage equality news is coming fast and furious ...

Tuesday is a staff meeting day for us at All Saints Church ... and although in July the pace may be a little "summer slower" ... well, it's still Tuesday. And it's still a staff meeting day. Which is why I'm whirling a little to keep up with all the "Breaking News" on marriage equality in between meetings today.

So here's where you want to go to get up to date:

The New York Times has a major feature entitled "True to Episcopal Church’s Past, Bishops Split on Gay Weddings" -- and it's getting a lot of buzz for offering a thoughtful and thorough window into where The Episcopal Church "is" on marriage equality ... with the six dioceses of New York as a microcosm. Read it here.

Meanwhile, over at Friends of Jake there's a blog entitled "The Road to GC2012 Goes Through New York" engendering some sprightly debate over blessings, marriage, bishops, canons and culture. Read it here.

Integrity's commented on Walking With Integrity with this statement:

Integrity USA is gratified to see a thorough and thoughtful feature on the Episcopal Church's response on Marriage Equality in New York in yesterday’s New York Times. It provides an accurate look as to where the Episcopal Church “is” on marriage equality – and it also offers a great illustration of the reality that good people of deep faith can be on different places on their faith journey and still support equal protection of civil marriage for same and opposite gender couples. We hope that will be an encouragement to all who work for equality and especially to those who will be testifying on Capitol Hill tomorrow in the Senate hearings on replacing DOMA with the Respect for Marriage Act.

The debate about marriage equality once dominated by religious bigotry and faith-based homophobia has increasingly been balanced by progressive voices of faith stepping up and speaking out, and Integrity is proud of its 35 year history of moving the Episcopal Church forward as an opinion leader for equality.

And so on Sunday we’ll be celebrating with New Yorkers as marriage equality becomes a reality in their state and we’ll be organizing to support those working to end marriage discrimination by the federal government and looking ahead to our own General Convention next year in Indianapolis. We continue to be convinced that nothing short of the full inclusion of all the baptized in all the sacraments is good enough for Jesus or for us … and we look forward to the Episcopal Church moving closer to that goal when it meets in July 2012.

In a word: BRAVO!!

FINALLY ... and this is a biggie ... breaking news from the White House is that President Obama HAS endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act. Senate Judiciary hearings are set for tomorrow on this bill that would end DOMA (the so-called Defense of Marriage Act which is actually a DISCRMINATION against some marriages act). Read about that here.

That's it for the Big News Day for now ... back to staff meeting land!